Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Bulawayo Metropolitan Rugby Football Board (BMRFB) has suspended today’s Under-21 league because two provincial teams’ are touring Botswana.
City’s rugby enthusiasts will not be starved of action as BMRFB has organized a match between Nust and School of Mines as part of their efforts to encourage tertiary institutions to take up the sport.
BMRFB spokesperson Simba Dangah said the league action will resume next weekend and called on fans to come and rally behind the two teams in action at Hartfields Grounds this afternoon.
It appears BMRFB are unfazed by Zimbabwe Rugby Union’s decision to dissolve the board as they continue with the programmes that they had laid out.
Among their programmes is to encourage educational institutions in the province to play sport, with emphasis on women’s rugby.
BMRFB challenged the decision to dissolve its board and hopes ZRU reconsiders its ruling.
ZRU dissolved the BMRFB board accusing it of “paralysing the smooth running” of the game in Bulawayo despite the new board’s efforts to revive and expand the game in the province.
The timing of BMRFB’s suspension raised eyebrows, with some in the province dismissing ZRU’s move as a ruse to prevent Bulawayo from having a say in the running and development of rugby in the country.
The dissolved BMRFB, comprising chairman Craig Change, vice-chairman Thembelani Ncube and secretary George Hlatshwayo, had instituted an audit for the period 2017 to 2019 in a bid to foster transparency and cleanse the game’s image in the province.
It had also indicated its intentions to shut down the popular Hartsfield Tshisa Nyama and retain the ground as an exclusive rugby venue.
The new board introduced an Under-21 league that was attracting fans back to Hartsfield, with numbers growing every week.
Efforts were being made to revive women’s rugby in the province.
The BMRFB members will miss out on the ZRU annual general meeting set for Harare’s Prince Edwards tomorrow. – @ZililoR
Online Reporter