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Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union president Aaron Jani has put the re-establishment of a national league as his association’s top priority this year.

The Harare businessman argued a strong domestic could fast-track the Sables quest to regain their competitive edge and re-emerge as a force in Africa.

“The league is paramount. The Sables cannot progress without a structured league and this will be our focus in 2019.

‘’We must build a bigger and quality player base to feed into the Sables,’’ said Jani.

The ZRU boss said his executive had drawn a number of lessons from their maiden year in office in 2018.

Although the country’s flagship team, the Sables, missed qualification for the 2019 World Cup in Japan, Jani said they were also looking to lay the platform for the success of the Sevens team, the junior and the Women’s sides.

The Cheetahs will this year be chasing glory on two fronts with Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s men seeking to retain the Africa Cup and also eyeing qualification for a place at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

Jani also paid tribute to his two deputies — Martin Shone and Losson Mtongwiza — and the game’s stakeholders for the “hard work in 2018’’.

“The year 2018 has been an eye-opener and l thank my two VPs for their tremendous support which enabled us to pull through.

‘’We didn’t realise how far we had fallen behind in terms of rugby in Africa.

“We are now struggling with teams that we would have never considered as worthy opponents.

‘’The year 2018 was also revealing in terms of the amount of debt that had been raked up over the years through poor administration and governance.

“Our aim was to stabilise the ship as it were in order to plan for future growth.

“The highest point was hiring an international coach as well as receiving great support from the board, dedicated administrators, rugby fans and the corporate partners who gave us tremendous support and resources, for that we are truly thankful,’’ Jani said.

The former Zimbabwe international also acknowledged that they had their failures.