‘We stuck to our structure and didn’t panic’: Sables manager relieved after battling win

BY ENOCK MUCHINJO IN KAMPALA

Zimbabwe rugby team manager Tichafara Makwanya admitted that the Sables’ performance in their 29-23 Africa Cup semi-final win over Kenya on Sunday wasn’t their best “in a while”, but praised the team for grinding out the crucial victory.

“Yesterday was very tough, Kenya were obviously very well prepared,” Makwanya told SportsCast on Monday.

“They brought some serious physicality to the game, some serious line speed, and also their mauling was quite efficient. I think yesterday was not one of our better games, or not one of our best in a while. But what is key is that we stuck to our structure and we didn’t panic. And the guys came to the fore. Also the quality that guys like (flyhalf Ian) Prior showed to get the kicking boots back on and nail the decisive penalties was good. Then also the impact from the bench was also quite massive. We saw Bhanya (eighth-man Aiden Burnett) coming on, scrum well. Keegan (Joubert, scrumhalf) came on, kicked well, his distributing was on point and we were good.”

The Sables trailed 18-13 at half-time, and Makwanya admitted again that it was a very close game that could have gone either way.

“To be fair, when you are down you can sort of just feel ‘we can lose this’. Even just before the game, you can never underestimate anyone. Anyone on their day can be better than you, everyone is desperate to go to the World Cup. Every game, any day, is a game that you can look at and say there might be an upset. I think what was key was that guys stuck to the structure and believe in ourselves. It wasn’t easy but we had to fight, we had to get out of the mud to change the swing of the momentum.”

Inside-centre Brandon Mudzekenyedzi, captain and scrumhalf Hilton Mudariki as well as replacement eighth-man Aiden Burnett scored Zimbabwe’s three tries while the outstanding flyhalf Ian Prior converted 14 points to continue his fine goal-kicking form in the tournament.

Zimbabwe will now clash with long-time rivals Namibia in the final on Saturday in a game that is regarded as the benchmark for international rugby in Africa.

The winner-take-all blockbuster will decide the continent’s single direct qualification place at the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Namibia will be gunning for their eights straight World Cup appearance, having been to every tournament between 1999 and the last edition in 2023.

After Zimbabwe was the first and only African team to play in the first two editions of the World Cup in 1987 and 1991, the Namibians have only been disrupted once by Côte d'Ivoire, who surprised everyone to qualify for the 1995 tournament in South Africa.

Reigning Africa Cup champions Zimbabwe will however come into Saturday’s final on the back of their semi-final win over the Namibians here last year, the Sables first victory over their great rivals in 23 years.

But Makwanya, a multi-capped Sables flyhalf in his playing days, faced Namibia on quite a few occasions in his career and knows what the Welwitschias will offer next weekend.

“The final on Saturday is another tough game, we need to show that it wasn’t a fluke beating them last year for the first time in a while,” said Makwanya.

“They’ll bring lots of physicality, lots of line speed, lots of good handling. I think also their tactical kicking will be quite good. I think their attack will also be on point, so we need to be up to it and play to our strength. And obviously trust our system and nullify whatever they bring to the game.”