adminGoodwill Zunidza Mutare Correspondent
FORMER Mutare Sports Club scrum-half Anesu Mangongo who died tragically after a short illness last month had just broken fresh ground by pioneering the entry of Zimbabwean rugby players into the Namibia domestic league.
Friends, teammates and members of the rugby fraternity were devastated by the Mutarean’s sad passing, hardly a year into his first season with top Namibian club side Wanderers.
Namibia is not a common destination for Zimbabwean rugby players but the south-western African country has proved to be the Sables’ long-lasting bogey side, winning at each turn during their fixtures in the Rugby Africa Gold Cup and at South Africa’s Craven Week festival for youth teams.
Mangongo, who died at the tender age of 23, was an elder brother to Martin Mangongo who turned out for the Junior Sables from Under-14 to Under-18 and competed at the Craven Week festival on multiple occasions.
The late player attended Mutare Boys High School before switching to Hillcrest College for his Advanced level studies where his rugby career took an upturn causing him to be signed by the city’s main rugby franchise, Mutare Sports Club.
MSC coach Mackenzie Munetsi wailed over Mangongo’s death as he recalled the player’s enthusiasm for the team affectionately known as Shumbas by their supporters.
“He had been with MSC since he was 15 years old and this is where he gained most of his rugby experience and skill. He was with the team as far off when we were relegated from the Inter-City League and he remained part of the team,’’ recounted Mackenzie.
“He played a big role at either scrum half, flyhalf or even wing. He was in the team last year when we achieved our promotion back into the top-flight league,’’ said a distraught Munetsi.
Although many still associated the utility back rower with MSC’s eye-catching performance in this season’s ICL, their best on record where they are lying in second place behind champions Old Georgians, Mackenzie confirmed Mangongo had since left the club.
“He was now playing for Wanderers in Namibia where he schooled,’’ Munetsi revealed
Online Reporter