Mashawi: The Enforcer who had to be ‘forced’ to play delights in World Cup dream
- vimbayi makwavarara
- Aug 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 8
BY ENOCK MUCHINJO
HARARE – While flair instead of brawniness may typify Zimbabwe’s rugby team to the casual observer, some of the heroes of the Sables' historic World Cup qualification have been players of outstanding brute strength.
One man that has enthusiastically embraced that aspect of the game, in a big way helping the Sables return to the World Cup for the first time since 1991, is the aggressive inside-centre Kudzai Mashawi.
Mashawi’s fearsome reputation out on the park definitely has to do with something very deep inside him – for somebody who by normal Zimbabwean rugby standards was a late starter, and even seriously considered walking away from the sport in his schoolboy days.
“My upbringing was interesting, I moved a lot and changed schools in primary school, and I never played rugby in primary school,” Mabvuku-born Mashawi tells SportsCast.
“My first introduction to rugby was at Churchill Boys High where I was actually forced to play as a form one, being one of the taller guys in my class.”
But the exposure to different environments growing up – and then getting his first taste of rugby action in the thick of things on the team’s front-row – nurtured Mashawi’s abrasive nature.
“The first position I played was prop in Under-14s rugby at Churchill,” says Mashawi.
“And then I found myself moving to the backline as I got older. That has been my journey with rugby. I even wanted to quit rugby at some point when I was in form four. I feared playing first XV rugby at Churchill for the Bulldogs. But I just found the courage and ended up going with it. And here I am years later, playing alongside some of the best Sables players to ever wear the green-and-white colours of Zimbabwe.”
32-year-old Mashawi concedes that he has never deliberately offered himself for the positions he has occupied since he started playing rugby. But he reckons that certain traits, such as the mean streak in him, eventually and naturally decides things for a player.
“I personally think athletes don’t really model their play,” Mashawi says.
"I guess it comes from character, and probably the time that you play the game, what you pick up along the way. So I can say overtime, I really became someone who just love the physical way of playing, making my presence felt physically. I guess that just comes from my character.”
Mashawi’s feisty approach to the game has earned him the nickname “Enforcer” from adoring Sables fans. He delightfully combines that side of the game with that of his regular Sables midfield partner, the outside-centre Brandon Mudzekenyedzi.
While Mashawi is known for his jaw-dropping tackles, relentless work-rate and energetic carries – Mudzekenyedzi is the agile and mercurial one with the ability to swerve and side-step to the try-line.
“I think the reason we complement each other well comes from the respect that we have for the game and the team,” Mashawi says.
“He (Mudzekenyedzi) has his own mindset of the game, where he upholds his standards and I think we pretty much share the same vision in terms of that. I believe that is how we work so well together, obviously him being the player that he is and me being the player that I am. Off the field we are friends as well. We have respect for what we do, and obviously respect for the game.”
While intra-departmental chemistry is no less healthy for team success, Mashawi is even more pleased with the all-round brotherhood within the larger Sables set-up.
It is all evident, in every respect, over the past two years that the Sables have won back-to-back Africa Cup titles. Natural leaders within the team, with their different styles of leadership, effortlessly emerge to guide others along the way.
“I guess it’s been God, really,” remarks Mashawi.
“I can say the bigger part of that is also the coach, Piet (Benade), being the coach that he is and the man that he is. We can have conversations, personal conversations, and we can have the respect towards each other as people. It’s not about where one comes from, what he has achieved before and what he is doing now. So I guess that makes us the one team that we are. And when you look at most of the players in the squad, it’s people who have spent their rugby career together somewhere, from school or through clubs we played for so ja, we spend most of the time together. It does help out with the bonding. Just sharing the same vision as a team has helped us be a better team. We always give thanks to the one with the highest power and those that are around us. In this instance, I think Piet and my teammates, and the balance that I have from home, has been the most important thing. Having teammates who believe in you, to be able to trust you and count on you to do your job, makes everything much easier.”
Zimbabwe’s narrow 30-28 victory over long-time rivals Namibia in an absorbing Africa Cup final in Uganda on 19 July ended the Welwitschias’ World Cup qualification dominance since 1999.
Having been part of the Sables side that beat Namibia 32-10 in last year’s Africa Cup semi-final, Zimbabwe’s first win in 23 years over their bogey team, Mashawi and his colleagues returned to Kampala this year no short of motivation for the biggest game of their careers.
“Stakes were high, because it was that or nothing,” says Mashawi.
“I say that considering my age, what I’ve achieved so far, and what I could have achieved for the family and the nation. So when the final whistle was blown, the emotions were really out of this world, realising that we have just seized an opportunity to change a lot of lives, change a lot of perception, put the spotlight on our nation and be back as one of the best. That realisation, up to now, can’t be fully defined. I mean, it’s really amazing to be where we are now.
“My hope is that this is a platform for the future generation – watching and emulating. When that World Cup kicks off, when you sing that national anthem, you play that first game, it’s a matter of showcasing your talent, what Zimbabwe and Africa have. It’s about creating opportunities for yourself, being able to compete against the best in the world. It’s life-changing for careers, in fortunes, it should then turn into a cycle in terms of the game being professional in Zim. It won’t happen overnight, but definitely it is a platform to take steps towards the direction where athletes live off sport in our country, in particular rugby, and not lose talent to neighbours or overseas because we are not living off sport.”
Soft-spoken Mashawi is, off the field, nothing like the physically confrontational beast he is on it. He is in fact a tender-hearted giant with a genuine passion for the community and the less privileged.
“Something interesting about Mashawi is that he works for the Tag Rugby Trust, he is responsible for running a programme that deals with people that live with disability in our communities,” Mashawi says of himself.
“That is something interesting about Mashawi. Well, people see the temper on the rugby field, that is not always the case! I even wanted to be a TV star…I’m joking! (…laughs). But those are some of the interesting things that people might not know about me, and I enjoy traveling.”
Well, joke he says, but the trademark stylish tinted hairstyle may actually give Mashawi away as to what he thought of doing away from the tackles and tries.
Mashawi’s personality away from rugby, a mix of mellow and playful, reflects in his commitment to his beloved wife Nadia Mahomed and his family.
They do everything together, Nadia travelled to Kampala to cheer on the Sables for the crunch Rugby Africa Cup final.
“I’m sure a lot of people know that she is a former national team player herself, she represented Zimbabwe in the basketball world,” says Mashawi.
“She understands what it means to be an athlete, to be a sportsperson. So she takes care of what I need to have, she pushes me to train and she even trains with me early mornings. She understands the times away from family, the busy schedules, what you must eat, as well as how you must stay focused on what you can do for the country. It has been a real blessing.”
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