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Yesteryear greats with Lovemore Dube
YEARS after making his Sables debut against Uganda, Cleopas Makotose still remembers the moment when he finally got the chance to don the national colours.
It was a special day for him for one big reason, that he was in the same starting line-up with childhood hero Victor Olonga, a rugby legend.
“I still don’t believe it till today. I met him (Olonga) for the first time when I was in Grade Five and many years later, I debuted for the national team and Victor was the captain. It was a special moment and till today he still plays a special role in my life.
When you put your mind to something and you work hard for it, special things do happen. We work every day for special moments,” said Makotose.
Playing alongside Olonga is something Makotose says he will treasure for the rest of his life. Norman Mutiba, Jeff Tigere and Costa Dinha were part of the team in Uganda when Makotose made his debut.
“We had quite a lot of big players. It was a very close game (against Uganda) but I think we were beaten 13-10 if I’m not mistaken,” he said.
Olonga had come to play in a tournament in Triangle in the Eastern Lowveld and caught the attention of young Makotose. He would later go the same route like his mentor by being a pupil and outstanding athlete at Plumtree High School.
As if that was not enough Makotose who was born on 29 December 1983 went on to captain the Sables, Zimbabwe’s senior rugby national team at the age of 23. For four years he was captain of the team playing as a flyhalf. He belongs to a lucky group that saw big and great boys in action for club and country from the 1990s among them Daniel Hondo whom he formed a good combination when he played as a centre.
“I had one of my best moments on the pitch playing alongside Daniel Hondo whose combination with myself I enjoyed,” he said.
Makotose was born in Bulawayo but attended Mary Mcdougall Primary School in Triangle where at Grade Three he started playing rugby.
“I grew up in a sporting place at the Triangle Country Club where we watched a lot of rugby especially during Easter. It was live rugby. I liked the way people ran at each other at full speed, the challenge which epitomised what life is all about. The excitement of the challenge in the sport won me over,” said Makotose.
In his primary school days he recalls playing against schools from around the country with their biggest event being the Ridings Primary School Tournament.
“All of Whitestone, Midlands Christian College, Kyle, St Thomas Aquinas and Carmel we played,” said the former Sables skipper.
The best of his sporting career at primary school was finishing second behind St Thomas in the Double Wicket Tournament. He played cricket as well. From Mcdougall he moved to Plumtree High School which was a sporting secondary school measuring favourably against Christian Brothers College (CBC), Falcon and Milton High School in sport.
He reckons high school rugby was competitive with Tonde Chavanga of Prince Edward and Peterhouse’s Brian Mujati among the most outstanding. Makotose was identified while playing for Plumtree High School by legend Brendon Dawson who captained and coached the Sables.
“He is the one who identified me and invited me to train with them at Old Miltonians and as they say the rest is history. I found myself training and playing alongside Naboth Mujaji, Jeff Tigere, Emmanuel Mukandi and Wesley Mbanje. Back in the day rugby was very competitive with Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians formidable sides dominating the scene,” said Makotose who was played at fullback at Plumtree.
Week in, week out he said rugby was exciting and very competitive. He does not forget his early handlers.
“Bernie Burke who was my coach at Mcdougall who went on to head Carmel in Bulawayo and Padden Cooper who moulded me at Plumtree High School did a fantastic job to be where I got to be. I must have impressed at Mcdougall when I had the ball in my hand and I was running past the opposition,” he said.
The top opposition in the country he said was Harare Sports Club with Bedford Chimbima, Rockface Gurumani and Gary Ewing who were instrumental in that team’s rise to the Lion Lager titles. Makotose captained the Zimbabwe Under-21 team that was exposed to South African provincial competition.
“There were guys like Happison Nyatanga, David Cloete, Paul Stark and Bhana. There were good talents and the many tours improved us as that was shown by a great number of us graduating into the senior Sables side,” he said.
For his sweat, Makotose is happy that he won two Africa Cup titles in 2012 and 2014 held in Kenya and Tunisia respectively. He had a chance to play outside the country after playing for Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe, turning out for Pitersburg Rugby
Club in Limpopo Province, Johannesburg Raiders, SKW Cape Town, Forlsburg in Cape Town and Huddersfield in England.
He retired in 2017 at Matabeleland Warriors and ventured into coaching with Petra High School giving him that breakthrough. Makotose who is engaged and holds a Level Two International Rugby Board certificate holder, says his first match, a 12-12 draw with Madagascar remains an emotional reminder of his career.
“Captaining your country comes with a lot of expectation. It is always emotional and even today when I look back it goes to the heart,” said Makotose.
Among his memorable moments in rugby was scoring a try of the tournament in 2007 in Sevens tournament in Dubai. When they won the Africa title in Tunisia he was selected into Africa’s best 22 players. Makotose says rugby has not been spared the bad times as sport gets affected whenever the economy is facing challenges.
He says Noddy Kanyangarara did well at the helm of Zimbabwe Rugby Union. Makotose who owns an academy in Bulawayo called MO15, says he owes Bulawayo a lot.
“This is the city I was born in. I owe it a lot in terms of rugby. I have a dream to make it a flourishing city with lots of talent and having players who can play anywhere in the world. But this can only happen if we invest in junior development. If I can have a place or clubhouse set up where a rugby ground can be pitched and I work with the youngsters,” said Makotose.
Online Reporter