AWOL Sables coach asks for more time

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE national fifteens rugby team coach, Peter de Villiers who has been in South Africa since October last year is expected in the country early next month for dialogue on the way forward with his employers.

De Villiers, hired on a two-year contract last year went back to South Africa for his annual leave in October 2018. He was expected back in Zimbabwe at the beginning of this year but is still yet to return. A reliable source in the Zimbabwe Rugby Union told this publication that the former Springboks mentor was effectively absent without official leave. De Villiers is said to have asked for more time to attend to some family issues as his wife and daughter are said to be not feeling well.

With De Villiers still holed up in South Africa, his assistant Daniel Hondo is now Sables caretaker coach as he prepares the team for the Rugby Africa Gold Cup coming up later on in the year.

“He went back to South Africa in October for his annual leave which was for one month. We now understand he has got sickness in the family. Daniel Hondo is the caretaker coach while we wait for the coach to come through,’’ the source said.

It is not clear if the Sables mentor is interested in continuing in his role, something that will be clear when he eventually makes a return to Zimbabwe.

“We are expecting him on 7 March, we expected him to come on 12 February and he asked for more time. He is coming for dialogue, he is coming so that we map the way forward. He will appraise us,’’ our source said.

Asked if the ZRU were meeting their end of the deal, the informer said since the two parties have an agreement, they expect the coach to honour the contract.

“We have a contract with the coach and we have to make sure that he fulfils his end of the bargain because we are meeting our end.”

De Villiers was hired in February last year with his mandate being to take Zimbabwe to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. It appeared like a simple task for a man who led the Springboks to the quarter-finals of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Not only did he fail in that mission of taking Zimbabwe to the World Cup but the Sables survived relegation from the Gold Cup by a whisker when they defeated Uganda 38-18 in Kampala to finish fifth on the six-team log.

The Sables stumbled to a 23-23 draw at home against Morocco, lost to Kenya, Tunisia and Namibia with the win over Uganda in their last match of the 2018 Gold Cup ensuring that they remain in the elite group. Namibia won the Rugby Africa Gold Cup to automatically qualify for the World Cup. Kenya finished second in the Gold Cup which gave them an opportunity to play in the repechage where they finished bottom of the four-team log, having lost all the three matches they played against Canada, Germany and Hong Kong.

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