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RISING STAR . . . Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge holds his trophy in the company of Delta marketing director Maxen Karombo after winning the Coach of the Year award in 2013

Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
FORMER Sables assistant coach Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge, former back-liner Douglas Trivella and former Cheetahs player Grant Mitchell are front-runners for the race to land the top Zimbabwe rugby coaching jobs.

The interviews for the posts were concluded yesterday.

Mandenge and Trivella are in the driving seat for one of them to become the Sables head coach.

Mitchell, a former Zimbabwe Rugby Union general manager, leads the race for the Cheetahs job where Gilbert “Gidza” Nyamutsamba has been in charge for the last four years.

The successful candidates will get performance-based four-year contracts, renewable every year.

Mandenge, who last year was the Sables assistant coach, has a good understanding of the local game and has won several domestic league titles with both Old Hararians and Harare Sports Club.

In 2011 Mandenge led the Sables when they gained promotion into the World Cup qualifying Group 1A, having beaten Madagascar and Uganda in Kampala.

Mandenge’s advantage is his experience and loyalty to the local game, especially the Sables, where he served between June 2010 and last October.

This is not the first time that Trivella has been linked with the Sables job as in 2012 he was expected to become the assistant coach in charge of the back-line.

Trivella made his Sables debut in June 1997 when he appeared in the starting XV as a winger against Italy A with Zimbabwe winning the game 52-39 and he was the top points scorer with two tries and four conversions.

With three caps for the Sables, Trivella’s last game was in June ’98 before his departure for England where he featured for former English Premiership side Rotherham Titans.

He earned 42 appearances, 31 of them were in the starting line-up, and Rotherham won promotion to become Yorkshire’s first representative in the top-tier of English rugby.

He then went on to coach Cleckheaton in the North Division One.

In the Cheetahs camp Mitchell, who is now a strength and conditioning expert, is the odds-on favourite to be the coach.

Mitchell, Mandenge and Sports Club coach Nsikelelo “Sykes” Sibanda have all won local rugby league titles.