Veronica Gwaze, Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHENEVER Kudzai Mashawi dons the Sables’ green and white, singing the Zimbabwean national anthem ahead of crucial ties, it always feels like a dream he never wants to wake up from.
It is a dream he never planned and one he never even saw coming.
Mashawi is, precisely, an accidental superstar who never dreamed of taking up rugby seriously someday, let alone playing for the national team.
His journey dates back to the age of 14, when his school needed to participate in a rugby tournament.
As a result, a squad had to be hastily assembled.
Prefects were tasked to randomly pick tall students from the senior classes at the school.
And Mashawi found himself in the group of tall boys.
For someone who had no interest in the physical game, he bunked training on what was supposed to be his first day.
The school authorities forced him to attend the second session, which he did “under protest”.
Interestingly, the coaches were impressed with the potential they saw in him.
However, almost daily, he would go back home with bruises from training, something that made him remain adamant that he would never take rugby seriously.
Then came his first official game, and Mashawi picked up an injury.
This did not go down well with him or his mother, as they felt rugby was too physical, and the two agreed he needed to quit the code.
But the school would not have it.
Instead, Mbare Academy spotted him, took him under their wing, and that became his turning point as they transformed him into a real rugby player.
“That is when I got to understand the other side of rugby, because this is a sport that I had simply ruled out due to its physicality… I thought every day was just an addition of injuries, but I was wrong,” he said.
It was not long before he made the team that would play in the COTTCO Rugby Festival, one of the largest and most prestigious schoolboy and schoolgirl rugby tournaments ever to be played in Zimbabwe.
The tournament, which produced a number of stars, would traditionally be hosted annually over a week at Prince Edward School in Harare, drawing teams from across provinces.
It is here where Mashawi earned a Sharks Academy scholarship that took him to Churchill High School.
He would play for the Under-14 side as a prop and later lock.
The rugby gods smiled at him, and in no time he was promoted to the Under-16s, where he was converted into a winger and team captain.Since then, he has never looked back.
However, in between, Mashawi, whose father was more into football, also landed on the football pitch at some point.With his athletic abilities, he was quick to crack into the school team, where he did not only play as a striker, but a prolific one.
“I recall playing in the NASH games at some point, becoming the top goal scorer of the tourney, and even fantasised seeing myself in Warriors’ colours in future,” he said.
“At this point many people tried to convince me to switch from rugby, but then I had to consider the sport that gave me a scholarship and how much effect it would have on me if I terminated the scholarship.
“I had to revert to rugby, and now when I look back, I realise that I did not make a mistake.”
From school tournaments to club rugby, his rise was rapid.
Today, the young boy who once bunked rugby training sessions marshals the Sables wings, having gone through the club rugby ranks.
He still recalls the day the Sables qualified for the 2027 World Cup, ending a 36-year absence from the global showpiece on July 19, 2025, after beating Namibia at Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
“We had done weeks of intensive training and everyone was just locked in because we were determined, especially for us who hoped for at least a World Cup dance before hanging our boots on international rugby,” he said.
“Having gone for weeks in preparation, we had now reached a decisive moment in which everyone wanted to just give it their all, and I am happy that I played my role for the good of the Sables.
“It was a moment of pride; the emotions were too much, and we shared every moment of our dreams. Our dream had just come true.”
As Mashawi finishes tries, chases kicks and defends the edge at the World Rugby Nations Cup, he also has a personal target of making it into the final World Cup squad.
The Sables opened their campaign against Samoa yesterday at the DIY Kitchens Stadium, and now they are back in preparations before facing Uruguay at Trailfinders Sports Ground, Ealing, on
November 14, and Chile on November 21 at Stade Chanzy in Angouleme, France.
Featuring 12 teams, the tournament draws together sides that have already qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“Sometimes you just look back and marvel at the journey you have travelled, with a beaming smile,” Mashawi said.
“It has been an exciting yet emotional journey, and the World Cup will be a major highlight for all of us, because this is something that we have dreamt of for years, and finally the moment is here.”
When Mashawi pulls on that Sables jersey in Nations Cup and ultimately the World Cup, he does not just represent Zimbabwe, but every accidental beginning, reluctant first step and every dream rewritten.
