Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WITH so much emphasis and attention being placed on age-group rugby over the last two months, it was al-most easy to forget that the Zimbabwe senior team have a crucial year ahead of them this term.
Piet Benade and his Sables have used their time away from the public glare to quietly go about their business in preparation for the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup.
The Sables will be going back to Uganda to defend their crown and, hopefully, punch their ticket to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Earlier this week, Benade and his crew of selectors announced a 40-man squad that will take part in the Zambezi Series, which kicks off this weekend.
The series will see the Sables take on regional rivals Zambia and Botswana this month. Benade, still looking to widen his player base for the must-win Rugby Africa assignment, cherry-picked a squad entirely made up of locally-based players, all of whom he has been working with since the year started.
“I think it’s very important that we provide pathways for local players to play Test rugby,” said Benade, while explaining the rationale behind his selection process.
“We do have a number of foreign-based boys who will be challenging for spots come June and July, but many of them are based in the French leagues, which is still in season.
“However, this shouldn’t be an excuse for us not to play rugby, just because maybe a couple of boys are not available.
“It’s important for the local boys to take up the responsibility on board.
“We also benefitted a lot last year when a couple of the top players were taken back by the clubs just before the Rugby Africa final in Uganda.
“Some of the local boys were then able to come in and step up to the plate at international level, perhaps be-cause of the experience and exposure they had had playing against Zambia and a couple of Test matches,” he said. The Sables’ Zambezi Series campaign kicks off this weekend when they face Zambia at Harare Sports Club’s Machinery Exchange on May 4.
This will be followed by a showdown against Botswana on May 10 in Harare, after which Zimbabwe will travel to both Zambia and Botswana. Among the new leaders in the locally-based squad is Dion Khumalo, the energetic midfielder, who has been named as one of the vice-captains.
“The preparations have been good,” said Khumalo.
“We have had a couple of training sessions with the boys, the mood is quite good, the boys are hyped up, and we are ready to go.
“We are ready for Zambia.
“It’s the first Test match for what promises to be a great year, and the boys are ready.”
Khumalo’s rise from the 2023 Junior Sables set-up to the senior team’s leadership group underlines the value of the Zimbabwe Rugby Union’s development programmes.
The former Under-20 centre is now ready to make the climb-up.
For, Khumalo, the upcoming fixtures are not just another preparatory series of games but an opportunity to prove his mettle.
“It’s all about expressing myself as a player, giving the coaches what they want, and getting out of my shell.
“What happens with us rookies, or little players, we tend to play in a shell and don’t get to express ourselves as players properly.
“It (Zambezi Series) is a great opportunity that the foreign-based guys are aware of; we take that as an ad-vantage for us, and we will finally get the opportunity to express ourselves.
“We want to show the technical team that we are the people for the job too, and it’s an opportunity for us to stamp our tickets for the trip to Uganda for the Africa Cup,” Khumalo added.
He has been making steady strides within the senior ranks, describing the experience as invaluable.
“It has been amazing.
“Just to have the Hiltons (Mudariki), Mashawis (Kudzai) and Mudzenkenyedzis (Brendon) around you and help-ing you has been great. “They are always there to help the younger guys and motivate them, and I have also reached the stage where I also motivate and help those younger than me.”
