Dark clouds gather over Zim rugby

PHILLIMON MHLANGA

Dark clouds have gathered over Zimbabwe’s under achieving national 15s rugby team, the Sables, who will have a nasty final 80 minutes to avoid being relegated to the second tier of African rugby when they face Uganda in Kampala this Saturday.

The Sables who left for Kampala on Tuesday are the highest profile team in the relegation battle and potentially the one with most to lose. Under former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers, who was hired early this year, the Sables have been disappointing in their last four tests, and still look doomed in their last game in Kampala in two days’ time.

The Cranes have since sealed their place in the elite league after defeating Morocco 49-29 last weekend to secure third place with an assailable 10 points.

So what is the Sables technical team, head coach de Villiers and his assistant Daniel Hondo’s opinion, particularly bearing in mind that there is high risk of relegation?

The highly rated South African gaffer de Villiers said he was locked up in a meeting and referred all questions to Hondo.

Hondo admitted his frustration after a poor campaign. He said the Sables should dredge every last drop of energy to win the encounter against Uganda to clinch the decisive points despite being almost on their knees. Hondo said they will not take the battle to avoid relegation for granted.

“The team has not been gelling well after we mixed young and experienced players, but, we are working hard putting a few more technical plans to counter what we think Uganda will throw at us. So we are positive that we will get a good result in Kampala and stay up in the top league,” Hondo, a veteran of several world cup campaigns told BT Sport in a telephone interview on Tuesday just before the team’s departure to Kampala.

The Sables have been sucked into trouble after a poor show that saw them fail to win in their last four tests. Zimbabwe lost 18-14 to Tunisia and drew 23 all with Morocco before losing to Kenya 45-34 and 58-28 to Namibia in their penultimate match of the 2018 Rugby Africa Gold Cup at Hartsfield Rugby Stadium in Bulawayo two weeks ago.

And now the Sables’ chances of preserving their place in the elite league and continue to rub shoulders with the continent’s top teams is shrouded in uncertainty.

There is little more than 80 minutes left for the country to remain in the Golden Cup. Unless something truly remarkable happens in Kampala this Saturday, the Sables will soon be preparing for life in the second tier continental league, the Silver Cup.

Experts told BT Sport this week that the outlook for Zimbabwe’s national rugby is becoming bleaker with the Sables plunging to the lowest as the embarrassing Gold Cup, which also doubles as the qualifying process for rugby World Cup 2019, has been nothing short of spectacular.

They said it will be no surprise to see the Sables losing in Kampala because results so far show that confidence has nosedived to harrowing depth. The latest results show that the wheels are coming off. Only a crushing victory in Kampala would secure their elite status.

“With the poor show so far, Zimbabwe will suffer more misery in Kampala,” a rugby expert who preferred anonymity said adding: “de Villiers has all the tell-tale signs of a man who has seen and done it all in the world of rugby but still has fallen short of the expectations here (in Zimbabwe),” he said.

Zimbabwe will rely heavily on captain Denford Mutamangira, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Shayne Makombe and Antipas Kamkwindo against Uganda.