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Deputy Sports Editor
IT has been quite the week for re-elected rugby boss Aaron Jani and his lieutenants Losson Mtongwiza and Martin Shone, more so for the president than his deputies.
No sooner had Jani been retained as Zimbabwe Rugby Union president than the former Sables international winger turned 49 just 24 hours later.
The veteran sports administrator clearly has a plan about the direction he wants rugby to take.
He is aware, too, of the obstacles that lie ahead.
“I want to be remembered as the man who took us back to the World Cup, and 2023 will surely be a defining year for me,”Jani said.
Jani and vice president (North) Mtongwiza were elected unopposed, while Shone, vice president (South), trounced his relatively known challenger Craig Change 11-1.
Jani said: “It truly has been the week for me indeed . . .
“I feel fantastic, I feel happy and I feel vindicated and very motivated.
“I just turned 49 and I also won the election, so it has been a big week for me, as an individual, and I am thankful that I am able to be in this position where I can make a difference.’’
And the celebrations were fitting.
“I was very fortunate that my team at work took me out for lunch and bought me a birthday cake, and capped all this off with a family braai with a few close friends and family,” he said.
Jani had warmed up to the top rugby post in the last two years in which he completed the term of ousted president, Nyararai Sibanda.
But with age comes wisdom, and Jani will be the first to admit that it has not been rosy.
“I am now 49, one year shy of 50, and one of the lessons I have learnt is that people have different views and different ways of looking at things owing to their backgrounds, education and socialisation; and so if you are in a leadership position, it is always good to try seeing things from the different views and try walking in their shoes.
“I admit that the last two years have been quite a mixed bag.
“In terms of positives, we managed to participate in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge last year, which is not cheap and we did on a budget of about US$250 000.
“The tournament itself set the platform for our Victoria Cup success later in the year.
“If you look at the training and education, we were able to go through all the provinces and provide first aid, training, referee, coaching, training and education.
“Financially, we were able to pay off and service almost 100 percent of our debt, which I think was a huge milestone.
“It is important to note that we managed to put in place some austerity measures – like salary cuts and living within our means – and this allowed us to service the legacy debt.
“We made sure that the secretariat is well-resourced and that allowed us to make much headway,” he said.
The two years were not without their negatives as resources continued to be a hindrance.
There is also the element of the women and seven’s game losing steam, including the whole Peter de Villiers (PDV) debacle that continues to haunt Jani and his leadership.
“Going forward, there is need for us to do more in terms of the women’s game.
“We have not been able to attract as many administrators as we would need to administer the women’s game and as such, they fallen off drastically.
“This is due to the lack of game-time and we do have measures we intend to implement to rectify all this.
“Luckily, we start off on a fresh page, financially, and that will help us attain all our goals in the long run.
“We intend to put in place a more vibrant fundraising committee, mandated with being more creative and vibrant when doing their job.
“One of the areas we have already picked on is merchandising, we need to explore that and many more creative initiatives.
“On development we will be doing more with Government schools, which have the numbers and that will be the starting point for our pool players.
“We want to bridge the gap between school’s rugby, which has been doing well over the years, and club rugby; and one of the ways is to support the Varsity league, which will offer school leavers a place to further their rugby.
“We also looking to do more with the armed forces, and maybe establish a league there, which will, in turn, feed into the more mainstream league.
“If you look at the Cheetahs, they have been going backwards, because we have not been able to give them the game-time and tournaments they need.
“So, a sevens league is definitely on the cards,” he said.
Jani also opened up on his executive’s darkest hour.
“I think as it pertains to Peter de Villiers, the point of departure, for lack of a better term, was a simple case of the rights of the employer and the rights of the employee.
“If they are certain conditions you have to meet as an employee, and you fail for whatever reason, then it becomes a problem.
“When we employed him, we set out specific goals that, in retrospect, were ambitious on our part, and when he failed to meet them, decisions had to be made.
“What we could have done better, in retrospect, is maybe better lines of communication.
“PDV was coming from a professional background, in which he was well equipped with a background staff, and we did not furnish him well on what we wanted and what we could give him.
“It must have been overwhelming and shocking to arrive here and find out that he would have to do most of the work himself.
“There were a lot other issues that came to a head, and trust broke down,” he said.
And on the possibilities of the two parties ever coming together and making peace, Jani refused to rule it out.
“The whole situation is regrettable and Peter de Villiers has my sympathy over the sad passing of his daughter.
“Myself, being a cancer survivor, I totally understand the troubles and toil one goes through in terms fighting it. So I am very sorry that this happened to his daughter.
“But, in terms of communication, we did receive some communication from his agent, who reached out to us some weeks ago.
“It is something we are considering, dialogue is always important, and have no problems with putting this issue to bed,” he said.
Online Reporter