Zimbabwe rugby’s bright future fading

BY GRACE CHIRUMANZU
Rugby has been one of the major sports in Zimbabwe, in recent years, but its future teeters on the verge of demise.
The country has proved a force to reckon with in the continent, with the national rugby sevens team emerging the only African side to win a silverware, at this year’s edition of the International Rugby Board World Cup.
It is currently ranked 54 in the world and 10 in Africa. But just as tennis fell apart and cricket was crippled by the departure of experienced players, it is feared rugby may soon disappear into oblivion, due to lack of funding.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union president, Themba Sibanda, admitted to The Zimbabwean on Sunday that “the Union cannot do anything” to save the sport from falling apart “without the help of the corporate world.”
“In the whole world every sport is heavily funded by the corporate world,” he said.
“The current economic situation has heavily affected us; companies are not interested in taking part in such activities. As ZRU we are faced with a difficult situation where we are not sure whether to fund one team and forget about the rest or should we continue with the development.”
The Cheetahs failed to travel to Morocco, for the Tangiers Sevens Tournament, held this month after the Union fell short of funds for the trip.
Ironically, the sevens side were out to seek IRB recognition to regularly play as one of the core nations, which takes part in the competitive sevens circuit –a series of tournaments played all year round by the ten best performing sides of the world- by impressing in the Hong Kong Sevens.
According to Sibanda, ZRU is not financially equipped to fund the national teams to participate in such high profile tournaments.
It has been due to this lack of sponsorship that has seen the influx of talented Zimbabwean rugby players into neighboring South Africa and other foreign lands.
The loss of talented and experienced players has also been triggered by a local league devoid of competition and professionalism and the national players’ limited exposure to international matches.
The South African rugby leagues have since benefited from the country’s problems at the expense of local competitions.
Zimbabwe lost talented players such as Tonderai Chavhanga, speedy winger, Wes Mbanje, fullback Cleopas Makotose, Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira, wingers Tangai Nemadire and Gerry Sibanda.
A raging debate is often discussed within the rugby fraternity whether Zimbabwe will be able to retain its players for national duty and back into local leagues.
But just as it is an insurmountable task for ZRU to retain them, Sibanda reveals that it is inevitable to stop those moving as the country’s rugby governing board has nothing better to offer.
“We lose players to foreign clubs on a weekly basis and there is nothing much we can do to stop that at the moment,” he said.
“The players will continue moving as they seek to play the sport professionally. The league here is played more like a hobby; they are not paid for it. Until we can be able to offer players at least $US500 per month then we can start thinking of retaining them.”
Sibanda told The Zimbabwean on Sunday it is not up to them to tell when the future of rugby in Zimbabwe will shine bright as it is all dependent “on the economy and the participation of the corporate world.”


http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/