‘Cricket, hockey more risky than rugby’

Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter
SOME time late November last year Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died from a “catastrophic” injury to his head, two days after being struck by a delivery during a match. The then Australia captain Michael Clarke, trying to compose himself several times, read a brief statement on behalf of Hughes’ parents, brother and sister at a news conference at St Vincent’s Hospital that was broadcast live around Australia and the world over.

This was amble evidence for Stanley Mwatunga — the first black player for Mutare Sports Club rugby team — for him to support his assertion that indeed rugby is less dangerous to play than cricket or hockey.

“I think we all read and watched what transpired in Australia last year and that is enough evidence to tell you that rugby is not more dangerous than cricket or hockey.
“The reason why most schools or institutions are always reluctant to include rugby in their extracurricular programmes is that they do not have competent coaches, hence the players end up getting injured more often.

“In fact, there is nothing really dangerous about rugby, but it is just like any other sport.
“It is a flimsy excuse to say we do not want our students to play rugby because we fear that they will get injured,” said Mwatunga, in a telephone interview from Harare where he is taking charge of his Hillcrest team in the ongoing Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival which comes to an end on Saturday.

Many schools in Manicaland, including those that have been powerhouses in the game back in the years, have not taken rugby seriously as a sport under the misleading pretext that its perceived physical nature exposes players to injuries.

But Mwatenga thinks otherwise.
In fact, when queried on the differences between rugby back then when he was still a player and to date, Mwatenga is of the opinion that rugby has even lessened its physical intensity in recent years.

“Obviously one of the major differences is that of race. There are so many blacks now playing rugby because back then it was viewed as a sport for the elites only.
“The other major difference is that the sport is now less physical than it was back then.

“These days, players have the luxury of a style of play, rules and regulations that allow them to play without that physical strain that it used to demand,” he said.
The Hillcrest College teacher and rugby trainer, who grew up in Mutare’s low-density suburb of Greenside, started off his career in Rugby at Mutare Boys’ High School when he was doing Form One in 1981.

He was later spotted by Dan Grey while turning out for the Mutare Boys’ High team when he was in Form Four in 1984 and that marked a big break in his budding career as he soon found himself becoming the first black to feature in a predominantly white Mutare Sports Club team.

The following year he became part of the Manicaland team that was playing against other country district clubs, especially in the Flame Lilly festivals. He, however, reckons the need to strike a balance between rugby and education in school.

“I think the game of rugby opened avenues in life for me. It made me who I am today.
“It actually taught me to be a better person. I won my first trophy in the Flame Lilly festival when I was only 17 and I remember I was the youngest player, playing alongside players who were at times twice my age and size.

“I kept playing rugby until I went to university because I also wanted to pursue education.
“There is need to strike a balance between rugby and education in school since the sport has the capacity to open avenues for one in life, but can hardly be pursued as a professional career in Zimbabwe.

“For example, at Hillcrest we have training during Mondays and Wednesdays from 3pm to 5pm and obviously we have matches on Saturdays. This is meant to strike a balance between rugby and the student’s educational demands.

“The need to strike that balance cannot be overemphasised because if you look at those national team players from the juniors up to the seniors, they board kombis (commuter omnibuses) straight from the airport to Mbare and other high-density suburbs after arriving from national assignments, hence the need to value their education as well as their rugby at the same time,” he said.

Mwatenga, who quit playing rugby in 1989 after sustaining a shoulder injury, recalls the first match he played for Mutare Sports Club during the Flame Lilly Festival in Marondera when he replaced teammate, Piep DeKlerk who had been injured.
He was crowned the best eighth-man in that festival.

“Those were the early days at Mutare Sports Club and I played against people who were older than me by far and twice my size, but with my pace I soon realised that I was better than some if not most of them. I enjoyed it,” he said.

However, Mwatenga bemoaned the lack of community and corporate involvement in rugby these days as compared to his hey-days.
The yesteryear rugby star, who was also an athlete of repute as he started Form One to Form Four winning all the 100m dashes he competed in at Mutare Boys’ High, is now a proud father of three — two girls and a boy.