Trevor Gurwe: Sables’ streetwise tearaway with ‘so much confidence’

BY ENOCK MUCHINJO

HARARE – It is the final of the Rugby Africa Cup, stakes very high.

Glory of being crowned African champions aside, the winner gets a favourable draw for the following year’s vital World Cup qualification tournament.

You stick to the basics in games like this Africa Cup final showdown, because no one wants to make a horrendous mistake and be the fall-guy of the team.

But with the try-line wide open on the outside for Zimbabwe’s first five-pointer of the match, Trevor Gurwe twice choose not to take the easier route to the whitewash.

He really should simply complete the finish at the first opportunity, but the young Sables winger instead cuts infield past two Algeria defenders.

Then with one swift motion, he creates a second chance right on the line, as if trying to redeem himself. But no, again, he doesn’t put it away. He sells an outrageous dummy past a third defender, cool as you like, to score under the posts.

Cunning!

Victor Pekani, Gurwe’s boyhood academy coach, isn’t however surprised by the sheer audacity.

“Trevor has always been confident with ball in hand, he has so much confidence

Trevor Gurwe on his way to score one of his two tries during the 2024 Rugby Africa Cup final against Algeria in Uganda.

,” Pekani tells SportsCast about his protégé.

“He’s a fearless young player. And to be honest with you, some of the stuff he will do, doesn’t come from us coaches. He’s not afraid to go by his own instinct.”

Gurwe scored a brace of tries in that July 2024 final to set the tone for a comfortable 29-3 win for Zimbabwe, bagging their second Africa Cup title.

The instinct Pekani talks about becomes clearer from Gurwe’s own reaction to his cheeky first try against the Algerians last year in Uganda.  

“You know, I didn’t even know how that happened, so that was kind of funny,” Gurwe, who turns 22 this Saturday, chuckles. “I just know that I wasn’t even scared of spilling the ball and fail to score. I guess that try came out of something deep inside me, because I couldn’t believe I could run like that.”

Gurwe made his run-on debut for Zimbabwe in that final in Kampala. He wasn’t likely to start had three key Sables players not left camp before the final due to club and personal commitments.

The departures caused some positional changes for Zimbabwe, with Taku Musingwini moving from the wing to fullback and Tapiwa Mafura switching from 15 to flyhalf.

In the biggest game they had ever played in their lives, Gurwe formed a young and exciting back three with fellow winger Ed Sigauke and the fullback Musingwini.

Harare-born Gurwe reveals facing personal distress ahead of that final, but is appreciative of Sables head coach Piet Benade’s brave decision to throw him into the fray.

“I don’t even know how, out of all the games, he put me in that first XV, with a fractured mind – not a lot of people actually know about this,” Gurwe says.

“Imagine I hadn’t played that much for some weeks, and that final came out like that. I believe it was God’s plan.”

Quite a lot of sports lovers speak of rugby’s supposed lack of unpredictability, compared to the other sporting disciplines. But to understand the streetwise streak of such rugby players as Gurwe, take a quick glance back at where he started.

Growing up in Mbare, all the sport Gurwe knew was playing football and dreaming of playing for Manchester United.

Until Mbare resident and rugby enthusiast Pekani’s keen eye for talent started to set sights again on his beloved township community.

Armed with a letter on a Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) letterhead, modest Pekani and his fellow grassroots devotees went around schools in their home area in 2012, pleading with heads to permit identified pupils to join the Mbare Rugby Academy.

Nine-year-old Trevor Gurwe, of Shingirayi Government Primary School, was one of the enthusiastic kids to quickly jump at it.

It was an important formative stage in the life of a new rugby player, every step having its own influence. For senior school Gurwe first attended Vainona High on the other side of Harare, then at the all-boys Allan Wilson High for a short period of time.

Perhaps the first significant move for Gurwe was a scholarship at boarding school Wise Owl down in Marondera, a private school that has been competing favourably with its much older counterparts on the sporting front.

“That’s where he started to show what he is really made of, under better coaching, alongside other good players, and playing games against tougher opponents,” comments Pekani.

“Trevor is a natural athlete, he just needed that kind of environment to just grow. I’m not surprised he has grown so rapidly. And then playing club rugby at Old Hararians, alongside good players and with good coaches to turn to, has also been thoroughly helpful.”

Trevor Gurwe attending a celebratory banquet at State House in Harare in December.

Pekani has known Gurwe since he was a child, and believes the Sables tearaway has the ingredients and right attitude to carve his path to success.

“He is a very religious young man, I know his family well from Mbare,” says Pekani.

“He was brought up in the Apostolic sect; his whole family belongs to that church. Don’t be fooled by the dreadlocks he now sports. Or his showmanship. That’s how Trevor is like, an entertainer. Trevor is one of those guys that like to put on a show, entertaining those that come to watch. I guess that’s a good thing for the paying public.”

For sure, sports stars – even in a punishing game like rugby – shouldn’t forget their role as part of the broader entertainment industry.

But while Gurwe is a showman, he is not a showboat. It is ultimately about what he can contribute to the team.

“I’m always looking to score,” Gurwe, who also plays fullback, says.

“I’m good at reading the game, anticipating opposition movements. I know how to maintain my performance over the full 80 minutes. I also have good hands for secure handling and catching of high balls, and maintaining position.”