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Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
THE Sables technical team has received a four-month reprieve after the Zimbabwe Rugby Union indicated they will only start looking for new coaching staff next year after extending the contracts to December 31 of this year. According to the current Sables technical team contracts, the trio of coach Brendan Dawson, his assistant Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge and team manager Brighton Chivandire were to take charge only of the national rugby side during the World Cup qualifying campaign.
This meant their contracts should have expired during the weekend when Zimbabwe lost 15-23 to Russia in the first qualifier play-off.
However, yesterday, Zimbabwe Rugby Union president John Falkenberg told The Herald that they have decided to extend the technical team’s contracts to the end of December.
Zimbabwe are set to take part in an invitational Tri-nations tournament in Namibia towards the end of October and the ZRU believe it’s important for the team to be under a stable leadership.
“We have extended the technical team contracts up to the end of December because they have done a lot of work with the team and we feel it’s better they just carry on until the end of the year so that we start looking for a new technical team next year.
“The process is a bit long but as soon as we are done with this year’s games we will set up a date for applications to start rolling in and the due process will take place at the beginning of next year,” said Falkenberg.
Dawson has been in charge of the Sables since May 5 2007 and was appointed ahead of seven other applicants after Chivandire pulled out of the race at the last minute, while Falkenberg was roped in as his assistant.
The former Sables captain was also alleged to have recently verbally assaulted referee Marty Wiles — who has since resigned owing to this incident — but Falkenberg said they could not act on that as they have not received an official complaint.
Two weeks ago, Dawson wanted to travel with his wife Oriana for the World Cup qualifier in Russia but Falkenberg intervened and said this would not be footed by the Union.
“I stepped in and stopped his (Dawson’s wife) from travelling . . . I wouldn’t allow that to happen because that would come at the expense of the Union.
“Nowhere in the world would that be allowed and my executive backed me on the decision.
“Rugby is a professional sport and we have to start showing our level of professionalism. And in regards to the verbal harassment of Wiles, we are yet to receive an official complaint on that,” said Falkenberg.
Falkenberg feels the Sables should have made life easier for themselves by converting a number of chances that came their way in Russia.
But others feel the Sables, who have shown a competitive edge in recent months, were supposed to have wrapped up their qualification in the Africa region qualifiers last month.
“We had our chances but it was unfortunate that we did not take them, we actually lost the game in the opening 10 minutes against Russia and I still believe we could have beaten Russia had we made use of the chances that came our way.
“We had the potential and the few times we scored brought us back into the game but we just failed to do enough to win.
“Now we have to sit down as the board, have our review meetings and plan on how we are going to make it for Namibia,” said Falkenberg.
Life has not been rosy for the ZRU who have struggled alone, without partners to help them, even though they were chasing a huge assignment to try and qualify for the World Cup.
“It’s so sad that we did not get enough support from the corporate world in preparing for the World Cup qualifiers.
“As a team that was preparing for such a tournament (World Cup) I feel we deserved as much support as we could have got.
“But I would like to pass my heartfelt gratitude to Old Mutual who have supported us so much in junior development, they have supported our age grade teams at the Craven Week, we have the Community Cup running.
“The future of Zimbabwe Rugby lies in junior rugby and that they are part of it means a lot. NetOne have also been a big Sables supporter, they have been with us in this campaign, and we are happy about the support they gave us.
“The players gave their all in such difficult conditions, they sacrificed time from work and time with their families knowing well that we had slashed their allowances because of financial constrains but they went on to put their bodies on the line for the gain of the country.
“But I guess as a Union we now have to focus on how we are going to make it for 2019 (Japan). As for me 2015 is my last year in office and I have to make sure I leave everything as clear as possible for the next board to have an easy task.”
Online Reporter