Zimbabwe Rugby Team

With the arrival of the First Column to Rhodesia under the leadership of Cecil Rhodes in 1890, the first rugby players appeared on the territory of modern Zimbabwe. In 1894, the oldest clubs in the country, Queens and Bulawayo Athletic Club, were created in Bulawayo . A year later, in 1895 the Rugby Union of Rhodesia was created. ^[3]

In 1898, the first Rhodesian tour to South Africa took place. Then the team of Rhodesia was staffed by representatives of the five largest clubs in the country, located in Bulawayo and Salisbury .

On July 30, 1910, the Rhodesian team hosted a team of the British Isles in Bulawayo who visited South Africa. The British won with a score of 24:11. On July 24, 1924, the next match of the rivals was held in Salisbury, and the European team again celebrated success (16: 3). On July 14, 1928, the Rhodesians accepted the New Zealand team and lost to the Blacks with a score of 8:44.

As part of the 1938 South African tour, the British played twice with Rhodesia. The first of them took place on July 20 and ended with the victory of the guests (25:11), three days later the second game took place, in which the British rugby players won again (45:11). In 1949, the famous Rhodesian squad John Morkel defeated New Zealand led by Fred Allen (10: 8). Thus, the Rhodesians became one of the six teams that managed to defeat All Black over the past hundred years. Three days later, New Zealanders tried to take revenge, but the match ended in a draw (3: 3).

In 1955, the British again played twice with Rhodesia. The Europeans won the first match with a score of 27:14, the second - with a score of 16:12. In 1960, the country was once again visited by New Zealanders. “Blacks” managed to win with a score of 29:14, although after the first half in the game there was equality of parties (6: 6). The year 1962 was marked by another meeting with the “British and Irish Lions”: on May 25, the British won another victory over the masters (23: 9). In 1964, the Lions won with a score of 32: 6. In 1970, the last match of the Rhodesian national team with the New Zealand national team took place. The Africans lost (14:27), while maintaining a very successful statistics of games with All Black: 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses.

In 1973, the Rhodesians met with the Italian team and beat the rival quite large - 42: 4. In 1974, the Lions returned to Selisbury, inflicting another defeat on the Africans (6:42). In the 1960s and 1970s , several natives of Rhodesia began to play for the South African team , one of the strongest in the world ^[3] . In the early to mid-1970s, the development of rugby in the country reached its peak: in Rhodesia, there were 49 clubs that represented 102 teams ^[3] .

In 1980, along with constitutional changes, there were changes in the structure of governing rugby institutions. The Rhodesian Rugby Union was renamed the Zimbabwe Rugby Union. Then the team went on a tour of England, in the framework of which she spent six matches. In the first of them, representatives of the newly formed state met with the national team of the county of Surrey at the Tuikenem stadium. The national team also met with the Gloucestershire team at Kingsholm ^[4] .

The official opening of the new Zimbabwean national team to the rugby world took place on July 7, 1981, the Zimbabweans played with Kenya and won (34:24). In 1987, the team was among the countries invited to participate in the first world championship . The team performed unsuccessfully and lost in all three matches of the group stage.

In the 1990s , the team regularly played with rivals from Namibia , as well as, in some cases, with the Ivorians and Moroccans . In 1991, the team again played at the World Cup . Meeting with the national teams of Ireland , Scotland and Japan , the Zimbabweans again failed to win.

In June 2005, the Zimbabwean national team began the selection for the 2007 World Cup , beating Senegal (21:15). In the second match, the Zimbabweans lost to Côte d'Ivoire . The 2006 Africa Cup was a real disappointment for the fans of the national team: the team took third place in the group, passing ahead Madagascar and Zambia .

Despite the fact that rugby in Zimbabwe is weakening due to insufficient infrastructure and lack of coaches, many athletes of Zimbabwean origin have become world-class players. Zimbabwean rugby is competitive down to high school, but conditions are not supported for older age groups. The choice of players for the national team is becoming increasingly scarce, and this explains the decline of recent years. Immigrants from Zimbabwe mainly play for the South African national team . However, some athletes played for teams in Australia , Scotland and several other European countries.

Among the famous rugby players who left Zimbabwe, the most notable examples are Ray Mordt, Gary Teikmann, Brian Mujati, Adrian Garvey, Tendai Mtavarir, Bobby Skinstead, Tonderai Chawangi, Kennedy Tsimba (all - South Africa). David Paucock played for Australia, David Curtis represented the Irish team, Scott Gray, David Denton and Paul Johnstone defended the colors of the Scottish team, Andy Marinos played for Wales , Edmur Takaendes - for Germany , and Takuzwa Ngvenya played for the US team .

• Rugby in Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe (inaccessible link) on the IRB website