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Brighton Chivandire

Mbachi Mutukula-Maregere Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union director of rugby Brighton Chivandire believes that the increase of black players in the sport since the country gained independence 35 years ago is a sign of the gains the game has made after embracing the majority of the population.As Zimbabwe celebrates 35 years of Uhuru, there have been a number of positives to pick from in a sport that previously have exclusive dominion of the white minority.

And in those years of Independence, Chivandire is one man who has graduated from being a key national team players to become the Sables coach and now the director of rugby at the ZRU.

In 1980, there were no black players in the national team and it took more than five years for the national teams to have black representation and since then, interest in the sport by the majority race in the population has increased dramatically.

Chivandire — who became the second black Zimbabwean national team coach in charge of the Sables following the legendary Godwin “Jaws” Murambiwa — made his Sables debut in 1992.

Yesterday Chivandire spoke of the remarkable journey travelled by many black players like him in the sport.

Chivandire first wore his national colours while representing Zimbabwe at Under-23 level.

“The way the blacks have come into this sport is quite remarkable. Rugby is a good sport but in the past only a few blacks used to play it.
“I remember when I first joined rugby in 1992 there were very few blacks in a team but over the years we are now more involved, we have been selected as coaches and are among the good players.

“I was only a young player when I joined but the beauty about this game is that it is a family oriented sport and so the reception which I got when I first joined was good.

“We used to have a lot of international teams coming and we also used to play a lot of tournaments and I believe that is why we were (one of) the best African countries as we would perform well in our matches. “As a player my best and most memorable moment in rugby was when we defeated the British Barbarians 23-21 in 1994. The match was interesting and we deserved to win, it was a tough encounter but Zimbabwe’s display in the field was awesome,” said Chivandire.

Chivandire, however, said it is sad that this year the sport which has attracted a lot of blacks is having challenges in running the league.
He said the starting point of rugby and a strong national team is the league. The league is running this year but without sponsors and last weekend, the league programme had a rather lowly start.

“The starting point of best rugby ever is a national league but it is sad that we cannot run the league well due to lack of sponsorship. We have a lot of talent if you look at many young teams in schools and academies.

“The other challenge which has affected this sport is the availability of players, most players have left the country. Most of our good players who used to be there during the 1990s are not there to give back to Zimbabwe.

“If we look at the Cheetahs team which went to Hong Kong recently, Zimbabwe did well, they did all they could and for them it is a very good learning point.

“Now we know what is required of us, we now know that game time is needed and also the more we play many games the better side will become in the future international events,” said Chivandire.

Chivandire left Zimbabwe in 1997 but was back a year latter.

“I did not like the cold in Bristol, England and so I came back home and started playing for Harare Sports Club.”

Chivandire who was one of the best locks of his time and played alongside the likes of Kennedy Tsimba who was the first black captain for the Sables and was once considered the best fly-half, and former Sables centre John Ewing — who is the current Cheetahs assistant coach.
Kennedy’s late brother Richard had also hogged the limelight when performing for Zimbabwe at the World Cup where his exploits earned him the nickname “Black Diamond’’.

Chivandire then moved to Old Hararians where he was a great success, helping them win several domestic titles.

Although Zimbabwe have only been to two World Cup tournaments, the 1987 and 1991 events, the Sables have been trying to rebuild their game through the Sevens version of the game with the outstanding players from the Cheetahs forming the backbone of the Sables squad. The schools has game has developed with some rural sides now being a regular feature at the annual schools festival.