Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT is a good thing that Piet Benade is not a superstitious man otherwise the Zimbabwe rugby Sables coach would probably be trembling in his boots.
In the lead up to today’s match against Zambia, everything seemed to be going according to plan with the Zimbabwe coach looking to give no more than nine players their long-awaited debuts.
The game kicks off at 3.30pm.
Among those nine was Obinna Nweke, the former Falcon forward who is touted as one of the fastest rising stars in the game.
Nweke had already made the matchday squad and was lined up to eventually run onto the pitch as some point during today’s match. However, a hit during the Sables penultimate training session saw the 21-year-old ruled out of the game.
“He’s a unique physical specimen at roughly 130 kilograms and almost two metres tall,” said Benade.
“Obinna is still very new to rugby and we were very excited to unleash him to the Zimbabwe rugby community so they see what he is capable of. And this was going to be a nice opportunity for him to just dip his toes into test rugby.”
What makes Nweke’s story unique, and sad, is the nature of his injury.
He aggravated a long-standing knee injury, one he sustained from the 2024 Falcon College bus accident.
The 21-year-old was one of the players who were injured when their school bus carrying 56 learners overturned on the Bulawayo-Beitbridge/Gwanda Highway.
The team was returning from a rugby match in Harare against St George’s College.
The accident also took the life of Aidan O’Donovan, a then Upper Sixth student, while other players and Falcon members sustained cuts and bruises.
What Nweke did know was that a piece of metal had penetrated into his knee and had been a source of discomfort for the rugby upstart since then.
“He has been struggling with a knee injury for some time now.
“Obinna took a hit on Thursday and he appeared to be in some discomfort, so we sent him for a scan. It turned out that there was a foreign body in his knee, a piece of metal, which probably came from when he was involved in the accident while still at Falcon a couple of seasons ago.
“We have probably found the cause of the discomfort and, hopefully, it’s a blessing in disguise where Obina can now get treated and we can take it to the next level physically,’’ added Benade.
The coach assured Nweke that he is still in his plans and is ready to have another look at him once he is ready to play.
Tonderai Chawambutsa has since been roped in as a replacement.
For now, the show must go on, and the Zimbabwe gaffer has assured a real treat for the local rugby community when the Sables take to the field against neighbours Zambia.
Benade is taking this match seriously and has named a very strong starting XV, which blends both youth and experience.
He has also handed enterprising fullback Tapiwa Mafura his first match at home.
Benade has also thrown in some of his new arrivals who include Michael Kumbirai and David Ewers.
Poland-based forward Kudakwashe Nyakufaringwa and Liam Larkin have also come in straight into the starting line-up.
With tough tests against South Africa A and Tonga in the Nations Cup opener, Benade wants to test his forward pack against the physicality of the Zambians.
“We need to shore up our front row.
“We know what the Zambians are going to bring, that physicality with their big forwards, and it should be an interesting test for my guys. Michael (Kumbirai) has a big job to do and has been a good addition to the camp, bringing in his experience and guidance to some of the younger players in the team.
“It is a little bit tricky with no club games so any chance we get to test our guys against quality opposition we will grab it.”
“We are looking forward to, hopefully, put on an entertaining game.”
“There are more difficult challenges coming up ahead, so if the players have the opportunity to show that they can cope with this challenge then the better we will be.
“We know Tonga are a physical side and the Zambian team is filled with soldiers and a bunch of strong boys.
“We have had extremely tough matches against them and we expect more of the same here,” he said.
Across the pond, Zambia skipper Ali Bhika has promised an all-out war and another tight game between the two sides.
He has refused to be intimidated by the fact that Zimbabwe are going to the 2027 World Cup.
“The battle for the Zambezi has been growing year by year and it’s a fixture that has helped us to polish up and grow our rugby,” said Bhika.
“One of the misconceptions doing rounds is that we will change our approach and tactics just because Zimbabwe have qualified for the World Cup.
“On the contrary, rubbing shoulders with Zimbabwe, who are World Cup bound, gives us an opportunity to gauge ourselves.
“We want to use them as a parameter to set our goals on where we need to improve.
“We have been playing Zimbabwe for quite some time now, and that has helped us to identify our strong points and our weaknesses.
“Going through these games, we noticed that our game management sometimes lacks and that is something we hope to rectify this time around.
“We have had several close games but Zimbabwe always edges us because they have that ability to manage the game under pressure and take control even when it’s in the dying minutes.
“Hopefully, we can start fixing that this time around,” he said.
