Sables bemoan lack of corporate support

The Sunday News

By Mehluli Sibanda

28 July 2012

THEY might be the champions of Africa but that has not attracted sponsorship for the Zimbabwe senior national rugby team, the Sables .
Under normal circumstances, as has been the norm with other sports, the corporate sector could be falling on each other to embrace them because of their new found status as the continental champions, but that has not been the case, with the Sables who were crowned the winners of the elite Africa Cup division 1A when they defeated Uganda 22-18 on 14 July in Tunisia.

Sad reality struck less than a week after the Sables held aloft the Africa Cup when confirmation came through that they would not be able to defend the Victoria Cup, a tri-nations tournament where Zimbabwe play Kenya and Uganda. The Sables Committee which is tasked with managing the affairs of the team could not commit the Sables to play in the Victoria Cup as the funds were not enough for the team to play the four fixtures, two at home and the same number away.

Bongai Zamchiya, the Sables Committee chairman said they made a proposal to their Kenyan and Uganda counterparts to have the Victoria Cup played later on in the year.  Uganda were agreeable to the idea as they also faced financial difficulties. Kenya were just not interested and with the three partners not finding common ground, this year’s edition of the Victoria Cup was scrapped.  Delta Beverages are the only notable sponsors for the Sables through their Lion Lager brand but the funds they provided were not enough for the team to successful compete in the Victoria Cup.

The Sables have made significant strides over the last few years and are worthy the recognition they deserve. Since Brendon Dawson took over as coach in 2007, there have been more positives than negatives. When Dawson was appointed coach in 2007, taking over from Chris Lampard, the Sables were at their lowest and were relegated to competing with the likes of Zambia, Madagascar and Botswana.

In 2008, the Sables failed to progress through the group stages in their quest to qualify for the 2011 International Rugby Board World Cup in New Zealand. That was not of their own doing as Senegal refused to come to Zimbabwe citing unfounded security fears. The Senegalese had lost at home to Namibia and Zimbabwe had a tough task of beating the Namibians in Windhoek, which they tried to do without success.
Zimbabwe went on to win the Confederation of African Rugby Southern Trophy in Botswana in 2009. Before that, the Botswana Vultures had so much belief that they were now on par with the Sables and Zimbabwe had to silence Botswana in front of their home crowd. Led by Costa Dhina and with mostly locally based players, the Sables trounced the Vultures 23-3.

In an effort to get more matches for the Sables, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union entered into an arrangement with their Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts, which saw the birth of the Victoria Cup. Kenya and Uganda were above Zimbabwe in the IRB world rankings by then and it was imperative that the Sables play against tougher opposition. The first year saw the Sables losing all the three matches they played against the East Africans.

The following year saw the Sables turn around their fortunes in the Victoria Cup in what was a magnificent year in which the team won all the five international matches they played. The Sables beat Madagascar and Uganda to earn promotion into the Africa Cup division 1A and then thumped Uganda at home, Kenya home and away to lift the Victoria Cup. In the process, Zimbabwe overtook both Kenya and Uganda in the IRB world rankings to become the fourth best rugby-playing nation in Africa

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