‘Money likes to go where there is peace and quiet’: Rugby Africa boss pledges support for Zimbabwe in appeal for normalcy

BY SPORTSCAST WRITER

HARARE – Rugby Africa president Herbert Mensah (pictured) has further pledged full support for World Cup-bound Zimbabwe, while insisting that the Southern African country must quickly resolve its internal conflicts in order to reap rewards of the historic success.

Zimbabwe, the first African country to play in the Rugby World Cup when they were invited for the inaugural edition in 1987, last July qualified for the sport's biggest showpiece for the first since 1991, a long overdue achievement for a country with a rich tradition in rugby.

That feat was however achieved under a cloud of uncertainty, as the currently suspended Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) president Losson Mtongwiza was not directly involved at the time, creating a leadership vacuum that has paved way for jostling among questionable individuals aiming to ride on the back of that success to land positions.

Rugby Africa president Herbert Mensah.

Mensah, a member of the World Rugby executive board, has cautioned Zimbabwe to sort out their issues for the global governing body of the sport to see it fit to release much needed funds.

“In order for us to support financially, we have to do an audit, which is what we are currently doing,” Mensah said in a recorded video.

“And what I would like to say is we are here to support Zimbabwe. We will make sure that through the audit, Rugby Africa also provides the structures, the systems. Africa in general needs to review the way that it looks at itself, moving forward. We have to look at eventually creating a common constitution, something that works for all of us. So that we ensure that we have good continuity, we do not have internal problems, confidence is high, sponsorship is such that they want to invest, they want to put their money and sponsorship comes from companies, comes from the corporate world.”

To mitigate the effects of Zimbabwe’s official administration void ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in Uganda last July – a welfare and fund-raising committee of the ZRU – the Sables Trust, has been praised in the country for its role in securing qualification under those circumstances.

Mensah, who played rugby in England and Zimbabwe in the 80s, has also expressed his gratitude for the Zimbabwean trust's work.

“In the case of Zimbabwe, they have a wonderful Trust system,” Mensah said.

“Lindsay (Earle, the Sables Trust head) and her people have put together an extraordinary helping system to make sure it works. But World Rugby must also have confidence in internal structures of all countries before it is going to divert any money. Sport is big business, and money likes to go where there is peace and quiet, not where there is chaos. Africa in general, like the rest of the world, must ensure that their house is in order and we need to make sure that all the boxes are ticked. And we will do that in Zimbabwe. I’ve had great exchanges with the Ministry (of Sports in Zimbabwe) and I have great respect for the Presidency. I’m hoping that working with them, with the regulators, with those who are the stakeholders, we will together ensure that Zimbabwe goes through to the Rugby World Cup in an excellent state. I have high hopes, I love the county, I do love Zimbabwe, and I hope that they do well.”

Mensah has once again heaped praise on Uganda, who have hosted the last two Rugby Africa Cup tournaments, with the 2025 edition serving as a qualifier for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

“The Rugby Africa Cup finals in Uganda was extraordinary, it’s now over and I continue to congratulate Uganda and Godwin (Kayangwe, Uganda Rugby Union president), for an extraordinary tournament,” Mensah said.

“But now our minds and heart and eyes shift. We are now thinking 2027 already, which is the Rugby World Cup in Australia and we have Zimbabwe, who have rightly qualified with an extraordinary display. We saw it last year, coming into this year and winning the final. But the fact of the matter is we now need to prepare Zimbabwe for that tournament. And the preparations come two, threefold. World Rugby, thankfully, is prepared to support the winners.

“That means the boys themselves in Zimbabwe, those that are playing abroad, and those that are emerging, have to be brought together by their extraordinary coach, Pieter Benade, and his squad of technical expertise who will now be helped along by World Rugby to ensure that the players are well prepared. Sports is big business, you hear me saying it all the time. Which means that Zimbabwe themselves have got to raise money, World Rugby themselves are going to come to the party. Matches are going to have to be played. Internally, you got to change the training methods to make sure that the strength and conditioning of the players change, nutrition, medicare, and then getting players from different parts of the world to play. Africa’s problem is not the talent: it’s the fact that they not playing enough competitive matches at a high level to be able to be able to play at the World Cup and compete.”

Zimbabwe qualified for the 2027 World Cup following a 30-28 win over arch-rivals Namibia in the 2025 Africa Cup final in Kampala in July.

Namibia, who had been to every World Cup on Africa’s single qualification ticket since 1999, still have a chance to go through to their eighth tournament if they win a four-team global play-off tournament in Dubai in November.

If the Namibians secure that berth, and with world giants South Africa always in the tournament since their debut in 1995, it will be the first time that Africa will be represented by three teams at the Rugby World Cup.

“Namibia have been there, virtually every World Cup,” said Mensah.

 “I hope they are going to win the Repechage in Dubai in November. Tough ask, because of the amount of money that is required. But what would it be for two African nations to get through! The problem that we have though is we also have to look and make sure the the internal governance of these countries is 100 percent. What you can do when you are just playing in your region is different from what you do when you are playing globally.”