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Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (12) 29
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GOVERNMENT hailed the Zimbabwe Sables for being crowned African champions after beating Algeria 29-3 in the Rugby Africa Cup final in Uganda yesterday.
President Mnangagwa congratulated the national rugby team for the historic achievement.
“Congratulations to the Zimbabwe Sables for winning the Rugby Africa Cup 2024! We are all proud of you!,” said President Mnangagwa in a message on X, formerly Twitter.
Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere saluted the Sables for their hard work.
“In an unforgettable display of skill and determination, our Zimbabwe Sables have triumphed in the Rugby Africa Cup with a decisive 29-3 victory over Algeria!
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Coach Pieter Benade, the Player of the Tournament Tapiwa Mafura, Man of the Match Aiden Burnett, and the entire squad for their outstanding achievements.
“This victory is a testament to the unwavering dedication and hard work of the team, and it stands as a moment of immense pride for our nation. #ZimbabweSables #AfricaChampions,” said Dr Muswere.
Meanwhile, Piet Benade could hardly contain his excitement as he went around playfully slapping the backs of his Sables’ bench during the closing stages of Zimbabwe’s 29-3 victory over Algeria in Kampala, Uganda yesterday.
His name was already written in the annals of Zimbabwe rugby history after orchestrating the Sables’ first win against regional neighbours and foes Namibia in 23 years.
Yesterday’s win over Algeria, which duly saw the Sables crowned African champions, was just the icing on the cake.
And, his huge smile and childlike demeanour aptly told the story.
By the win, Zimbabwe have secured the top seed for next year’s competition which will act as the main qualifiers for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Algeria will be seeded second while Namibia secured third courtesy of their 38-27 win over Kenya in the 2024 Africa Cup third and fourth-place play-off earlier in the day.
Next year’s competition will feature all four teams — Zimbabwe, Algeria, Namibia, and Kenya — with the finalist securing their berth to the global showcase Down Under.
But that is a story for another day.
Today, the Zimbabwe Sables are the 2024 Africa Cup champions and there seems to be a changing of the guard taking place.
The win was far from perfect but Hilton Mudariki and the boys got the job done, and one could even say convincingly.
Zimbabwe got on the scoreboard courtesy of a brace of tries from Trevor Gurwe while Liam Larkan and Brandon Mudzekenyedzi had another one each.
An outright favourite for Player-of-the-Tournament and Zimbabwe fullback Tapiwa Mafura added three conversions and a penalty.
Algeria overachieved, by making it into the final, but yesterday they met their match as Zimbabwe completely shut them down at every turn.
The best they could muster was a first-half penalty from the ever-reliable Julen Serge Caminati.
Serge had been instrumental in bringing the North Africans into the final with over half of Algeria’s points coming from the imperious kicking of the full-back.
However, his boot yesterday seemed uncooperative against a superior Zimbabwe outfit.
With every miscued kick and a missed penalty, the North African fullback’s body language told the story of a man out of form on the day.
Still, the Arab nations have every reason to walk away with their head held high as they have been the surprise package of the tournament.
Their 20-12 semi-final win over Kenya, in another world, could have been the story of the tournament, and the North Africans, the Team-of-the-Tournament.
Unfortunately, Sables finally snapped a 23-year-old losing streak to African heavyweights and serial World Cup participants, Namibia, and also beat the hosts and surprise packages of the tournament on their way to being crowned champions.
The post-match interviews of co-captain Hilton Mudariki and his deputy Aiden Burnett told of a team on cloud nine.
“It’s a great moment,” said Burnett, who was crowned Player-of-the-Match in yesterday’s final.
“The last six months, we put in the work, gunning for this position and it has finally come. “We are so happy; we have been training for this moment, day in and day in, and I can’t put into words the feeling.
“We trained for seven days a week, dug deep for this as it has been on our agenda for the last six months,’ he said.
His skipper added: “It has been an unreal tournament.
“It has been a very tough week of competitive rugby and to finally get this moment is truly special.
“I have been doing this (playing rugby) for a very long time, fighting for this moment, and to finally do it with this special group of boys is truly special and amazing.
“We have a truly special group of boys here and I can’t wait to see what the future holds,” he said. After the match, Benade was also honoured as the Coach-of-the-Tournament while, crowd favourite, Mafura, was duly named Player-of-the-Tournament.
Online Reporter