Hlongwane raps Rugby Union

SPORT and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane has expressed disappointment in the Sables after their defeat to Tunisia over the weekend in the Rugby Africa Gold Cup at Prince Edward.

In a statement released yesterday, Hlongwane blamed the team’s performance on boardroom differences within the Zimbabwe Rugby Union.

“The Minister of Sport and Recreation is disappointed and dismayed by the continued poor performance of the Zimbabwe national senior rugby team, the Sables, which is continuing to fall on the hands of non-traditional rugby stronghold countries.

“The minister notes that the continued factional fights within the Zimbabwe Rugby Union have rendered the institution completely and acutely dysfunctional.

“The minister further notes that previous engagements and calls on the Union to set aside electoral differences and to move forward till the end of the current electoral cycle for the good of rugby development in Zimbabwe, have fallen on deaf ears.

“It is poignantly clear that the Zimbabwe Rugby Union have allowed their differences to spill onto the field of play thereby affecting the performance of the national team.”

The minister has since directed the Sports Commission to convene an emergency meeting to look at the challenges affecting the ZRU.

“It is also clear that the Union has failed to build and to work as a team for the good of the development of rugby in Zimbabwe and apart from the recent string of losses, the handling of the Zambian national team in the month of May 2017 left a lot to be desired.

“Accordingly, the Minister of Sport and Recreation Hon. Makhosini Hlongwane has directed the Sport and Recreation Commission to convene an emergency meeting to deliberate on the challenges at the Zimbabwe Rugby Union and advise him accordingly on measures to be taken to reverse the current administrative and performance challenges and to stop the downward slide of rugby in Zimbabwe,” read the statement.

The Sables take on Uganda on Saturday in their last game and they are expected to leave for Kampala tomorrow.

They are currently sitting on fourth position on the rankings out of the six countries which include leaders Namibia.