Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Zimbabwe Sables will be banking on home support when they host Namibia in a Test match at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.
The two nations share a deep and long-standing rivalry that has always made their battle a never-miss entertainer for fans.
And, this blockbuster is expected to be a crowd puller.
With Zimbabwe hosting international rugby at the iconic giant stadium for the first time in two decades, Sables captain Hilton Mudariki wants home support to be one of their major weapons to victory.
“We are very excited, it’s a new venue and a whole new experience for us,” he said.
“You can tell just from the buzz that is around with some rugby being played locally so you can imagine what it is like with international quality rugby being played locally.
“People are excited.”
After beating the same opponents narrowly 30-28 in the final of the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup in Kampala, Uganda, to seal World Cup qualification for the first time since 1991, this should be a very competitive friendly for the Sables.
Next year, they will be playing in the World Cup with their opening battle coming against Wales at the Adelaide Oval on October 2, 2027.
The Sables were drawn into a challenging pool alongside England, Wales and Tonga with the global competition meant to run between October 1 and November 13, 2027.
Mudariki said the high-profile friendly will provide a preparatory opportunity while it will also be part of the rugby fraternity’s drive to popularise the game.
“We can’t wait to get going and we have always wanted to grow the game of rugby after qualifying for the World Cup so this is the perfect opportunity for us to do that in an easier manner,” he said.
“We want to attract different supporters and I think this is the perfect opportunity for that, and a moment also for those who want to learn or understand more about the game.
“Apart from that, it is a great experience for us to play in this iconic stadium because none of us have ever played in the National Sports Stadium.
“This is something that’s going to be new and we just want to absorb the experience and really enjoy it.”
The Sables, who will be without their foreign-based internationals, will field a squad entirely made up of locals with some players expected to make their senior team debuts.
With big numbers expected in attendance, Mudariki urges his charges to remain focused and not succumb to pressure from the packed stands.
“We know that we are going to have a bumper crowd, we have new and younger players on the team who will definitely be new to the atmosphere,” he said.
“The message is that we just want to go out there and express ourselves and also be able to do our fans proud.
“But speaking of the game itself we are not necessarily putting ourselves under pressure because we are alive to the bigger picture considering where we are headed.
“We want to get a result but, at the end of the day, we need the lessons more; this is one of the major processes that we have to go through in preparation for the global showpiece.”
