The Sunday News
NEWLY voted in Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) president Nyararai Sibanda has depicted himself as a servant of the game who should be made use of by stakeholders for the betterment of the sport.
Sibanda was elected as the ZRU boss last Wednesday at the union’s rescheduled annual general meeting held at Prince Edward School to replace John Falkenberg who did not seek re-election.
He came into office on a four-year term together with Noddy Kanyangarara the vice-president for the north and Tapiwa Mangezi the vice-president for the south. Joseph Kunyetu, the treasurer from the previous administration was retained as that position is not contested for and is honorary.
“I am just a willing servant to do what they (rugby stakeholders) want, it is about the constituency to use me to take rugby to another level. We want to drive rugby to all the provinces and improve our structures. We need to put our efforts in established provinces, we want to have a deliberate plan to look after our universities and uniformed services by ensuring that there are intense leagues for universities and uniformed forces. We will assist in making sure they are properly run,’’ said Sibanda.
He expressed his desire to spread the game by making sure that places such as Bulawayo and Mutare also host international rugby matches.
Asked how that was going to be possible since all sporting codes in the country use excuses that teams fly into Harare and it was expensive to transport them to Bulawayo as well as other cities, Sibanda said that could be combated by the union’s involvement in the early planning stages.
“We want to spread the game by ensuring that Bulawayo and Mutare also get national games. We want to be involved in the initial planning processes,’’ said Sibanda.
In terms of legacy, the new ZRU president said they were looking at the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers and having a rugby home where a High Performance Centre with training grounds and offices could be all situated in one place.
The immediate task of the new establishment, Sibanda said, was to induct the board and make sure that they share the same vision with all the staff, technical and non technical as they will be involved in coming up with the strategic plan for the game.
Last year, Sibanda had a confrontation with a group of former players and administrators calling themselves the Hartsfield Trust who moved memorabilia collected over the years that was kept at Hartsfield Rugby Ground to Bulawayo Club where they have set up a museum. The group recently opened the room at the Bulawayo Club where the stuff is now on display and invited Zimbabwe born former Springboks coach Ian McIntosh to officiate at the function where none of the ZRU leadership was present.
Sibanda pointed out that the issue of the removed collection will be discussed by his board with a serious decision to be made.
A business consultant with interests in Bulawayo and Harare, Sibanda describes himself as a mature administrator. Sibanda has a long history in rugby administration dating back from 1985 when he was the Highlanders Rugby Club founding chairman. After a long break from the game’s administration, Sibanda returned in 2012 when he was voted in as ZRU vice-president south.
