Matabeleland Warriors Crowned Gweru Rugby 7s Tournament Champions
By Delicious Mathuthu
Matabeleland Warriors were crowned Gweru Rugby Sevens Tournament champions after beating the hosts, Gweru Rugby, by just two points in the finals held at Gweru Sports Club over the weekend.
From the 10 rugby teams participating, Mat Warriors and Gweru Rugby overcame the rest to book places in the final, which ended 21-19 in a tightly contested match in favour of the visitors: owing to a missed try conversion by the hosts in the final minutes of the game with both teams three tries apiece.
Warriors were presented with gold medals, a trophy, and prize money for their victory, while runners-up Gweru received silver medals and prize money.
Third-place were Panthers Rugby from Bulawayo who beat Zvishavane Rugby 19-7 in the third and fourth playoffs and received a third-place trophy and prize money.
Participating teams included champions Mat Warriors, Panthers Rugby Club and Highlanders Rugby Club from Bulawayo; Gweru Rugby, Gweru Rugby-B, Mkoba Rugby, Gweru Poly, Zvishavane, Kwekwe, and Midlands State University (MSU Gweru) from the Midlands.
Speaking after the victory, Mat Warriors Player-coach, Thabani Sakupwanya, said his team was well-prepared for the tournament, thanks to experience gained in Harare.
He said Warriors participation is part of efforts to support Gweru rugby in reviving the sport in the province.
“We have been preparing even before going to Harare, and we had a few changes of players here and there, but we managed to stick to our game plan and goals, and we nailed it,” Sakupwanya said.
“Coming to Gweru is because they support us, and we had to support them back, as we are the Southern Region in terms of rugby they are always with us playing in Bulawayo; so we are supporting each other as Zim South.”
He, however, noted that the region needs to improve in terms of playing standards compared to Harare.
“In future, we must have more of these tournaments, which are well-organized, but basically the levels need to be upped. I think we are lacking here and there; yes, my team was victorious because we did some work, and I’m sure every other team prepared, but we still need to up our game because if you look at teams like those in Harare and the level that was here, it was a whole lot different, but we are not far behind,” Sakupwanya said.
Tournament organizer and Gweru Rugby Player-coach, Joseph Mudzingwa, said they played well as Gweru Rugby Club and the tournament aims to revive rugby in Gweru and assist younger rugby players.
The sport, however, faces infrastructure challenges after the only club level rugby field at Gweru Sports Club was converted to a soccer field.
“Considering Mat Warriors have been playing for some time now, played in the league, and have been playing sevens for the longest time, and we started about three weeks back, it was good.
“As Gweru Rugby we went to the finals, played well but lost 21-19; if we had converted our last try the result would have been different,” Mudzingwa said.
On rugby revival, he said: “We don’t have much rugby here in Gweru, so some of us have been playing in Bulawayo. For the past three weeks, we have been going to Bulawayo, but we decided to have a tournament this side to try and motivate young players back here in Gweru.
“As you can see, we have Mkoba Rugby, Gweru Poly, Midlands State University (Gweru), Kwekwe Rugby, and Zvishavane Rugby; so all these clubs were not in the rugby league but played well.”
He credited sponsors and friends for making the tournament possible such as Gramlex, Big Tich, Chenje, and a few others.
He expressed hope for more tournaments in Gweru but noted the challenge of finding a rugby field since the Gweru Sports Club rugby field was taken away.
“We have been trying to talk to Gweru Sports Club because the rugby field is now for soccer; we have been trying, but it seems we don’t have an understanding. Even if you look at the monies we pay to use the field, it’s too much; I even use my own money to try and encourage young players to play and avoid things like drug abuse,” Mudzingwa said.
Currently, Gweru Rugby is negotiating with Chaplin High School to fix and use their rugby field for club rugby and hosting similar tournaments in Gweru.
