Junior Sables’ Nyamunda perseveres
HAVING spent most of the time at last year’s Barthes Trophy either warming the bench or making cameo appearances, Alex Nyamunda decided to take a different approach at the same tournament last month.
The 20-year-old Junior Sables’ midfielder decided to be a little aggressive on the field of play, and finally got his breakthrough.
“Ngani Laumape (a fellow teammate) is my role model,” said Nyamunda.
“I love the way he plays, just aggressive upfront, and he has that quickness and explosiveness about him.
“Basically, that is how I want to play my rugby, and how I planned to play at the Barthes Trophy.”
The Junior Sables successfully defended their Barthes Trophy title in Kenya last month.
“Being back-to-back champions is such a high honour, but last year, I didn’t play all that much or feature in a lot of games.
“I then decided to work on my game and be more involved this time around, and I think I succeeded in that,” he said.
His idol — 30-year-old former All Blacks midfielder Koinonia Halafungani Laumape — is one of the fastest centres in the world.
Laumape, who plays for Kobelco Kobe Steelers (a Japanese rugby union team), is 1,72 metres tall and weighs 93 kilogrammes.
He uses his imposing physical attributes to full effect during his darting runs and carries in the number 12 position.
It is this explosiveness that Nyamunda emulated at the recent tournament, particularly in the semi-final match against Tunisia.
The Junior Sables won that match 66-6, with Nyamunda planting two of his team’s 10 tries on the day.
The 20-year-old centre said his performance against Tunisia was “very special” to him, despite also planting a brace when Zimbabwe mauled Cote d’Ivoire 55-0 in their opening match.
“The 2023 Barthes Trophy remains one of the high moments of my career,” he said.
“I was the enforcer of the team and played very well to finish as the team’s top try-scorer (30 points).
“However, the Tunisia game is very special to me.
“That was our most dominant performance of the whole tournament.
“Last year, we almost lost to them during our first game, but we redeemed ourselves with that dominant performance. “That was amazing.”
For a player who only got into the sport due to curiosity, during his days at Dudley Hall Primary School in Norton, what he has managed to achieve in such a short space of time is just amazing.
His size, skill and speed saw him attract interest from Churchill Boys School, where he spent only two seasons before Lomagundi College came knocking with a rugby scholarship.
Since then, he has played for all Zimbabwe age-group teams, from the Under-14 level to the current Junior Sables setup.
He even has a couple of caps with the Zimbabwe Seven’s team, the Cheetahs, having toured with them in Dubai last year.
However, the Junior World Trophy remains the main prize.
“I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
“The teams at the Junior World Trophy don’t know what is coming from Africa and what is going to hit them.
“We are putting in the work right now as we want to win the Junior World Trophy and qualify for the Junior World Cup.
“That is both our goal as a team and my personal goal and ambition.
“I want to play rugby at the highest level; that means participating at the Junior World Cup.”
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