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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE face of world rugby changed considerably following the spinal cord injury to former Highlanders Rugby Club player Lameck Kasuka who died at the United Bulawayo Hospitals on Sunday. He was buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery on Thursday. Zimbabwe Rugby Union president Nyararai Sibanda told mourners at a funeral service for Kasuka at Beit Hall in Luveve on Thursday that the game took a face change soon after the January 25, 1990 horrific injury to Kasuka as they immediately reviewed the rules of the game.
“What happened after his injury is that rules of the game of rugby changed. There was a review of the laws in terms of how it should be played. If you go to a rugby match now, there is now what are called specialists. The game does not start as long as they are not there,” said Sibanda.
He said new rules were formulated for world rugby not just Zimbabwean rugby adding that Kasuka’s injury influenced a lot of changes in the laws of rugby as the world took cognisance of safety in the game.
“It was not only him who was injured at the time. There was also a player from Ghana who also got a bad injury but is still alive. These are the people who were contacted by experts who came up with such requirements. No play will take place without an ambulance and so forth, all this began during those days following Kasuka’s injury. His injury changed the face of world rugby from that moment,” said Sibanda.
He also revealed that his union had put together packages that would have helped Kasuka realise his dream which were partially the rugby controlling body’s dreams.
The late Kasuka formed and ran the Lamsuka Foundation through which he sponsored rugby tournaments for schools and outreach programmes for health delivery to the less privileged and a variety of other programmes like the Lamsuka beauty contest for nursing students and Lamsuka breast cancer awareness.
Born in a family of four boys and four girls, Kasuka went to Mafakela Primary school before proceeding to Luveve High School for his secondary education which is also where he started playing rugby.
He played for Highlanders when he was still a Form Four pupil at Luveve High School and upon completing his secondary school, he continued playing for Bosso from 1985 up to the day of the horrific spinal injury in January 1990.
derick.khumalo