Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT has been quite a year for Zimbabwe rugby international Dion Khumalo.
Back in May, the Zimbabwe forward received the tap on the shoulder from Sables head coach Piet Benade as he was given the honour to lead his country against the Botswana Vultures in the lead-up to the Rugby Africa Cup.
The move seen as an endorsement for the young player’s leadership skills.
More importantly, it was viewed as a landmark moment for the “Grassroots-To-Greatness programme”, which has nurtured him through the junior ranks, including the Under-18 and Junior Sables set-ups.
His rise embodies the development model Zimbabwe Rugby is increasingly relying on to build depth and resilience within the national squad.
Khumalo went on to lead Zimbabwe to a resounding 80-12 win over the Vultures and he was a member of the Sables squad that breezed through the Rugby Africa Cup undefeated to book their place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
With the introduction of the Sables Lager Grid Cup, Khumalo was again thrust into a leadership role as he was named captain of the defeated Sun Rays.
Khumalo believes that the tournament could very well be the first step towards preparing the Sables for the challenges of overtures and rigours of Rugby World Cup.
“Yeah, the Grid Cup has been great, it has been quite the experience,” said the Sun Rays skipper.
“It’s a new programme, a development and an important step towards preparing us for 2026. “We have new players, new teams, new coaches and it has been exciting having all these things working in unison to make us better.
“It has been a while since we had competitive action, so the Grid Cup has been a welcome development,” he said.
The Sables Lager Grid Cup is a new franchise-based tournament that features a fresh approach to squad formation which deviates from the traditional club affiliation.
Four teams make up that league and these include the Valley Blades, Ngunis, Sun Rays, and Impis, which were assembled through a draft system, similar to those seen in major American sports leagues like the NBA and NFL.
This method was aimed at creating balanced, highly competitive squads across the board, ensuring a thrilling four weeks of rugby action.
While four teams started the tournament, now only two remain: the Impis and the undefeated Sun Rays.
The two teams will tomorrow square up for the right to be named inaugural Grid Cup champions at Harare Sports Club.
The match kicks off at 4pm.
With three wins in three matches, the Sun Rays could complete the perfect debut in the Grid Cup should they manage to get past Impis tomorrow.
However, they will have to do it without a couple of their trusted lieutenants, as the duo Tadius “Boxer” Dzandiwandira and Tavonga Ablant are a doubt for the clash with a swollen toe and a quad tissue, respectively.
Still, their skipper remains optimistic as the Sun Rays have faced many challenges but still remain undefeated.
“Preparations for the finals, so far, haven’t been that great,” he said.
“We had to move our training session on Monday due to the rains as the fields were heavily logged with water.
“We moved it up to Tuesday, which meant that we lost a day we could have used to polish up our strategy and game plan.
“Still, we tried to make the most of what we had.
