‘There was a lot of skepticism’: Winning over doubters on a journey to the top

BY ENOCK MUCHINJO

HARARE – When Precious Pazani leads England and Italy out of the tunnel for their Women’s Six Nations opening match in York on 23 March, she’ll probably have to pinch herself to make sure it is not all a dream.

In taking charge of that clash on Sunday in northeastern England, Zimbabwean Pazani will become the first African referee from outside South Africa to officiate in the prestigious competition since it was first established in 1996.

The 34-year-old from Harare has earned her badges doing something she loves, but her trailblazing role in winning over respect for female rugby officials in Africa hasn’t always been smooth and enviable.

“The challenges were quite great at the beginning when I started off, because there was a lot of skepticism about female refereeing and things like that,” Pazani told SportsCast on Monday.

“But with time, most of them got to know who I was. There was a bit of acceptance from them to say ‘you know what, women can do it’. And, also, I didn’t want to dwell on that (the negativity), I just allowed myself to train well, prepare well for games and try to perform well. That way it also gave buy-in from them to say ‘what, she’s actually quite capable of doing the job on the day whenever she’s given the game!’.”

                         ‘A surreal thing’  

The list of officials for the 2025 Guiness Women’s Six Nations was announced at the end of December 2024. The refereeing team comprises Scotland’s Hollie Davidson, Kat Roche of the United States, Zimbabwe’s Pazani – the New Zealand trio of Lauren Jenner, Natarsha Ganley and Maggie Cogger-Orr – Australians Ella Goldsmith and Amber McLachlan, England’s Holly Wood and Sara Cox, France’s Aurélie Groizeleau, South African Aimee Barrett-Theron and Italy’s Clara Munarini.

“I was very excited to get that appointment, it’s a surreal thing,” commented Pazani.

“Imagine you’re the first African outside South Africa to be part of it…its quite big for me and I’m really looking forward to it, I’m excited. It’s a very good learning platform for me and also to just have lots of experience, sharing a new experience with my colleagues from the World Rugby group.”

The World Cup dream

The 2025 Women’s Six Nations is important in more ways than one for the match officials involved. It will be the final test for those hoping to be among the 22 referees for this year’s Women's World Cup in England in August and September.

“I will definitely love to make the cut for the World Cup this year,” Pazani revealed.

“If I were to be selected, it’ll be a huge milestone in my career. Like, that’s quite big for me, having seen where I started from and where I’ve gotten to, it’ll be amazing. It will be great for the career, it’ll just be a great achievement for me personally and it’ll be something that my country as a whole would be really proud of, especially for the people that have been around and having seen where I started from.”

                         Rapid growth

Whether or not Pazani goes on to officiate at the World Cup later in the year, there won’t be a big contingent there from Africa.  But Pazani isn’t discouraged at all by the officiating levels on the continent.

“I think the standard is improving, from where we started off to where we are now,” she remarked.

“There has been rapid growth, which is quite good. But, of course, there is still a lot of work to be done. There is still a lot of work that needs to be carried out and a lot of help and assistance that’s required for most of the females involved in the African set-up to actually get better and meet world standards. But to be fair, from where we started off to where we are now, I feel like the standard is quite good, there is something that is there to work with, that can be worked with to get to greater heights.”

The formative years  

Pazani is fortunate enough to have the world-acclaimed Mudiwa Mundawarara as a compatriot. One of the continent’s best referees of his generation, Zimbabwean Mundawarara is Referee Manager for Rugby Africa, a position he has occupied for five years.

“It’s amazing because he has vast knowledge,” said Pazani.

“Being involved in the game for more than 30 years means there is a lot to learn from him and he’s got a lot to give as well. So it has been good having him around, assisting at every turn and at every step that he can. It’s been amazing, the knowledge that is there, the insight has been brilliant and has been amazing.”

Pazani was educated at Roosevelt Girls High School and Harare Polytechnic in the capital city. Away from blowing the whistle, she is presently a schoolmistress at Lomagundi College, one of Zimbabwe's leading private schools, located in the small town of Chinhoyi near Harare.

Introduced to rugby as a player at Admiral Tait Primary School, Pazani took an immediate liking to refereeing later on, thanks in large part to friends and mentors within the game who helped her find her niche.

“It was a nice way of staying involved in the game, and it kept me going,” said Pazani. “I had a lot of role models, the likes of (ex-referee) Abigail Kawonza, she was literally there, she is the one who got me to start doing it, encouraging me to do it and from there I was then hooked on it.”

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