‘Raiders Rugby Club not in for the numbers’

Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub

FORMER Sables eighth man Silethokuhle “Slater” Ndlovu says his newly formed Raiders Rugby Club is not in to add numbers but compete for the top honours in the country.

Ndlovu ended his long relationship with Highlanders Rugby Club in September at the closing stages of the Bulawayo Metropolitan Rugby Football Board (BMRFB) Archer Clothing 15s League to start the new project.

Raiders made their debut appearance at the BMRFB Archer Clothing Sevens League which started this past Saturday at Hartsfield Rugby Grounds.

Speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub, Ndlovu outlined the reason why he left the black and white army and the vision he has for Raiders.

“Raiders are a new team in Bulawayo. It’s not a development side but a team that we would like to see compete for the league. I am old now, I will end up retiring from rugby without winning anything.

“The reason why I left Highlanders is because of limitations. It’s not easy sometimes having to deal with people who are limited.

“I would tell someone about something and they say ‘no’ we can’t do that. With Raiders I have guys who are on board and raring to go. They are hungry and ready to leave their sweat and blood on the field of play,” said Ndlovu.

He added that they will also be touring countries such as Botswana and South Africa.

“We want to bring back the pride of Bulawayo rugby. This is a side that will be touring, we want to go to South Africa, Botswana. We want to boost rugby, we used to go to these places and even if you lose that side, we would come back a better team.

“That’s why at some point, Matabeleland rugby had about 16 players in the national team. But, now it takes a province to go and play a team in Harare, and still lose.

“But now, with the vision we have, we want to go and play Harare teams as Raiders not as Matabeleland, that’s the vision. We want to bring back the pride of Bulawayo rugby,” said Ndlovu.

Ndlovu, who also played for the Cheetahs, said he is confident that his team will be able to bounce back in the second round of Sevens matches set for Hartsfield this coming Saturday.

He said they missed some of their players in the opening round as some got caught up with work and had to rope in two rookies, who played rugby for the first time.

“Unfortunately, some of our guys got caught up at their respective jobs, but I am happy with the performance. I think this week we will be better because we have some guys coming in,” he said.
The local Sevens league is scheduled to run for four weeks. – @brandon_malvin