Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S rugby teams have a long tradition of sharing players across formats and levels: Fifteens, Sevens, youths.
Fifteens stars such as electrifying winger Edward Sigauke, dynamic centre Brandon Mudzekenyedzi and lively fullback Tapiwa Mafura, for example, have also starred for the Sevens side in recent times.
They have all now moved on to fully focus on the Sables, who are heading to their first World Cup since 1991 next year.
Ricky Chirengende, coach of the Sevens side, nicknamed the Cheetahs, also doubled as assistant coach of the national Fifteens side. He has also been replaced at the Cheetahs to allow him more time with the World Cup-bound Sables.
This means a new-look national Sevens team for Zimbabwe will go to battle at the World Rugby SVNS3 Africa Qualifiers in the Ugandan capital Kampala from 26–27 September 2026.
Zimbabwe’s captain, Tapiwa Malenga, will be one of the few survivors from previous Cheetahs squads, but he isn’t panicking about leading a team without some of its past star players.
“It’s a challenge, but also an opportunity,” Malenga tells Rugby Africa Media.
“Those guys have been successful in their careers through the Sables, and we’ll miss their experience, no doubt.
But this group is hungry. We don’t have the same names, but we have the same jersey and standards. The challenge is building combinations and trust, fast. The upside is that we have energy, no fear, and guys are desperate to prove themselves.”
Zimbabwe have been grouped in Pool A alongside Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco in their quest to qualify for SVNS3, the third tier of the global international Sevens circuit. Pool B has the hosts Uganda with Zambia, Tunisia and Senegal.
The Cheetahs skipper knows what his team has to do in Kampala to return home with the crown. “Win each game in front of us,” says Malenga. “Play with discipline, physicality and pride.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Malenga was introduced to rugby in Harare’s township of Mbare, at the famed Mbare Academy that has produced a number of Zimbabwe international rugby players.
“I fell in love with the contact and the team spirit aspect of the game,” says Malenga. Proceeding to Churchill Boys High School in the Zimbabwean capital was a turning point for Malenga, joining a school with a reputation for being a reliable nursery of rugby players over many decades.
Some of Churchill’s most notable products include legendary former Springbok Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira, as well as current Sables aces Tino Mavesere, Kudzai Mashawi and Victor Mupunga. For Malenga, stepping onto the same grounds as those top players changed everything.
“That’s where it got serious,” he says. “Great coaches, great culture, and tough games every Saturday. That’s where I learned that rugby is about character first, skill second.”
A hooker in the Sevens format, Malenga had people he looked up to growing up, both at home in Zimbabwe and on the international stage.
“It is partly by opportunity,” he says. “I love Sevens because it’s fast, skillful, and tests your fitness and decision-making. It taught me space and how to work under fatigue.”
The immediate dream is to win the Kampala tournament, but beyond that, Malenga has greater aspirations.
“What I aspire to is simple: leave Zimbabwean rugby better than I found it, and also develop the next generation and play the type of rugby that makes people proud.”
Pool A Pool B
Zimbabwe Uganda
Nigeria Zambia
Ghana Tunisia
Morocco Senegal — Rugbyafrique
