Curtain-raised for Wales, supported England as a kid, now plotting their World Cup downfall
- vimbayi makwavarara
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
BY ENOCK MUCHINJO
HARARE – Early 90s ushered in a glorious era for sport in Zimbabwe, a period full of hope and promise.
In 1992, the Southern African nation was celebrating being granted Test status by the International Cricket Council (ICC), after much waiting, following years of being turned down.
The same year, the national football team had given South Africa a baptism of fire on their return from international isolation, hammering Bafana Bafana 4-1 in Harare.
The rugby side had just made its second appearance at the World Cup, jointly-hosted by five European countries in 1991, so around that time top teams from across the rugby world were still finding it worthwhile to make tours to Zimbabwe.
All this meant that sports enthusiasts in Zimbabwe had the opportunity to see some of the world’s finest sportsmen in flesh, showcasing their skills on home turf.
One such lucky fan was a star-struck Chegutu farm boy named Pieter Benade, who went further than just a close-up view of some of Wales’ greatest rugby players in history on their tour of Zimbabwe in 1993.
“I remember that Welsh tour, I played a curtain-raiser for my primary school, Bryden, at the Police Grounds in Harare before Wales played against the Sables,” Benade, now Zimbabwe’s head coach, tells SportsCast.
“I cannot remember our opponent, but I remember scoring a try in the corner! As for the main game, I remember an 18-year-old Victor Olonga playing wing and scoring a try for Zim (in a 42-13 defeat for the Sables, with fullback Ian Noble converting the try and kicking two penalties).”
Wales were captained on that tour of Zimbabwe and Namibia by Gareth Llewellyn, whose 92 caps at lock were a record for his country until it was broken by Gareth Thomas in 2007.
But young Piet had his favourite player in the touring Wales side, naturally the legendary Neil Jenkins, a flyhalf like himself. The long-serving Wales kicking coach is the Dragons’ highest-ever points scorer in Test rugby.
Rugby was a way of life for the Benades, a very proud Zimbabwean Afrikaner farming family from the fertile grounds of Chegutu, 107km southeast of the capital city Harare.
“I used to follow the Five Nations (now the Six Nations) on a programme called Glynns Bolts Rugby on ZBC,” says the Sables tactician.
“It was a Monday night review show that showed about 20 minutes highlights of matches. So I knew quite a lot of the players pretty well. I used to record the show on a cassette and video recorder and would watch the games over and over (…laughs). Crazy, hey.”
Bryden Country School in the Chegutu area, a prestigious private junior school surrounded by charming countryside nature, provided the crucial formative stages of the tight-knit community’s strong rugby tradition.
This is where Benade the player was shaped.
“I lived on the farm in Chegutu, but I was at boarding school at Bryden and started playing seriously there,” Benade says, recalling a hilarious sequence of events.
“But my grandmother was a matron at Bryden so I could go visit her and watch rugby during afternoons!”
With South Africa under sporting sanctions and Northern Hemisphere rugby having a wider reach in countries such as Zimbabwe those days, it was normal that Benade’s first favourite team was from those parts of the world.
“Of the Five Nations sides, I supported England,” reveals Benade. “Rob Andrew, the English number 10, was my hero.”
Come October 2027 in Australia, Harare-born Benade will coach against the two great teams that gave him some of the best memories of his early rugby life.
On their return to the Rugby World Cup for the first time since 1991, Zimbabwe have been drawn in Pool F with England and Wales alongside Pacific islanders Tonga.
43-year-old Benade sees the humour in clashing with a team he once rooted for as a little boy.
“I have changed the teams I supported many times over the years!” he laughs.
“But definitely I enjoyed watching all the English players in the early to mid-90s. Their history and pedigree is amazing. I don’t think I would have ever dreamed that I might need to one day prepare a team to try stop their attack, or try find ways to give their players problems on defence.
“I am a small part of a large group of people who have an amazing opportunity to show how good Zimbabweans can be if we put our minds to it, work together and are aligned with a vision and a goal.”
Turning to the full draw for Zimbabwe, Benade concedes that his team will have an enormous task against their more fancied three opponents, but excited at the same time at the prospects of being tested by these sides.
“The draw was very exciting and again showed how special it is for our players to get an opportunity to be playing alongside some of the world’s best teams,” says Benade.
“I think all teams are hoping to achieve special things at the World Cup. We are aware that the challenges are monumental. Playing two of the Home Nations is a massive challenge and privilege. Then the Tongans are very well renowned for their physical prowess. We are looking forward to the preparation and the challenges all these teams will provide in the hope that we grow and benefit from it.”
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