The Sunday Mail
Petros Kausiyo
Sports Editor
When Zimbabwe senior rugby team manager Jason Maritz announced the enlarged squad that would travel to South Africa for the Currie Cup, little did he know he was handing a rare and yet early birthday present to one of the game’s brightest prospects.
Tight-head prop Demos Mbauya (Jnr) would turn 21 on March 11, just two days after Maritz revealed the composition of the squad that would go and do duty in Cape Town.
Zimbabwe will be trading as the Goshawks for the 12-week tournament that begins on April 2 when they face Georgia.
But, the fact that national coach Brendan Dawson and his lieutenants are using this tourney to fine-tune the Sables’ preparations for the Africa Cup and have called-up the bulk of the country’s best players, underscores the significance of being included in the squad.
The Africa Cup — set for Marseille in France from July 1 to July 10 — will also serve as the final qualifier for the 2023 World Cup also scheduled for the same European nation.
As Dawson’s men brace for the Currie Cup, an elated Mbauya shared his joy with The Sunday Mail Sport of living his dream.
He spent most of his early years in the sport in South Africa, having won a rugby scholarship to that country when he had just enrolled for Form One in Zimbabwe.
The closest he had come to making the national team grade was when he was shortlisted for a Zimbabwe Select side, which he, however, could not join as he had travelled to South Africa to begin his rugby scholarship.
Although he has just turned 21, his huge frame belies his age.
The role he plays and his looks have had some people asking whether he could be the Sables’ version of Zimbabwe-born retired Springboks legend Tendai “Beast’’ Mtawarira.
Interestingly, Mbauya closely followed Mtawarira’s game in South Africa, as the Beast starred for both club and country and was a key member of the Springboks’ 2019 World Cup winning squad in Japan.
And yet the irony of it is that his father and businessman, Demos Mbauya, was never a sportsman of repute, only playing some social football on an odd weekend out with friends.
“As a youngster at only 21-years-old, it feels like a great accomplishment, because it has always been a dream of mine to play at the 2023 World Cup for Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It is overwhelming but I think I am trying to keep it different, not taking it overly excited or too seriously, but I am very happy that I have got this opportunity.
“Not many people have this opportunity. It gives me a platform to showcase Zimbabwean talent … following in Beast’s (Tendai Mtawarira) footsteps but not from the South African side but the Zimbabwean side.
“That is how I am viewing it from my side.”
The former Golden Lions forward reckons his inclusion in the squad is a critical pathway for his promising career.
“It sets a path for me that anything is possible because I had been off sport for about a year, and within the three months that I have played, I have made it to the national team or to wider squad of the national team … it’s an honour.”
The Beast Factor
He also spoke about the impact Mtawarira has made on many young rugby players across the globe. “Yes, he is quite a little bit of an idol, but I don’t really follow him because he played for South Africa …
“I think playing for Zimbabwe means so much more. But he has created a big name out there for Zimbabweans. He has shown what we are capable of. If you look everywhere in Australia, there are Zimbabweans there, and I think watching those guys just made me think about focusing on us as a country, that we shouldn’t go overseas and try everything to change nationality.”
Mbauya also disagrees with the notion that rugby is a brutal and bruising sport.
Also, for him, returning to action after the Covid-19-induced break has been welcome.
“I was playing for Wits in the Varsity Cup and when Covid-19 hit, I took a break from rugby for about a year, mainly because of Covid-19. Everyone was actually off sport for about two years.
“Returning to play has revived a lot in me because rugby teaches you a lot about life in terms of discipline and perseverance.”
Maiden date
Mbauya said the warm reception he received from Dawson, Maritz and the senior national team helped him ease into the squad.
“When I came back to the sport, my fitness was very bad and my condition was very bad, but then the guys motivated me, from the coaching staff to the players, every day.
“The team manager Jason (Maritz) would send me messages almost every day to check if I was running, if was doing the things the things to get me on the team, pushing me, motivating me every day.
“I was comfortable in an uncomfortable space. As difficult as it was, I felt I had to deliver, and a lot of people were looking up to me to perform … I intend on fulfilling what is expected of me.”
Being included in the squad felt like “an early birthday present” for him.
Mbauya and a host of other players who had been on the national selectors’ radar were drafted into the clubs that featured in the Nedbank Challenge Cup tourney, which his team Old Georgians won.
He was one of the stand-out players in the Nedbank Challenge Cup.
“When we were playing the games, we were wearing trackers and I was pleased to see my stats. I was in the top three and it showed that my stats were improving with every game, so it indeed felt like an early birthday present,’’ he said.
“The player, who is as fiercely passionate about his country as he is for the game, revealed that 13 years of rugby had left him so much in love with the role of a tight-head prop.
“My preferred position is tight-head prop because I believe I have the technique and the skill. I have grown to love that position and I feel like I can be very impactful for the team in that position that I have played for about 13 years now.”
The Sables newboy also spoke about the challenges he had to overcome during his stint in South Africa.
“In South Africa, the main problem I had was not necessarily racism, but it was language barrier. So if it was provincials, the coaches would coach in Afrikaans, barely speaking in English, making it difficult for someone who never grew up in a South African setting, and I felt uncomfortable.
“You don’t feel safe when you are not at home,” he said.
As he revelled in his dream call-up to the national team, Mbauya also reserved special mention to Dawson, Maritz and the technical team that worked hard to ensure he was in shape.
The trio of Takunda Kundishora, Aaron Juma and Neil Mawere kept pushing and motivating him to do better.
“Coach Danny Hondo who worked on strength and conditioning, my chiropractor Dr Aimee Blumears and the Old Georgians coach Mark Wilson have all put in a shift to get me back in shape as quickly as possible.”
Whether he will live up to the billing remains to be seen, but in Mbauya, the Sables look to have recovered the Beast they lost to the Springboks.
