The Sunday Mail
Sports Editor
IT keeps getting better for Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) president Aaron Jani after his administrative capabilities were once again recognised by Ruby Africa, with the continental body appointing him chairperson of their influential Rugby Academy sub-committee.
Nearly two years after he was elected into the Rugby Africa executive committee, following an overwhelming vote in which he was the candidate with the highest number of votes, Jani was also named in the African Women Rugby Advisory board last November. On Monday, he took another giant step forward after he was appointed to head one of the key sub-committees.
Rugby Africa general manager, Coralie van den Berg, officially wrote to Jani to confirm the new assignment.
Jani and his colleagues have not wasted time in their new roles as they engaged in their first meeting via Zoom on Thursday.
ZRU board member Abigail Mnikwa was also recently appointed to the continental body’s women rugby advisory sub-committee, a development that has left the domestic game’s leadership walking with a spring in its step.
The union has since paid tribute to Jani’s appointment.
“This is another feather in Mr Jani’s profile in the continental game since his March 2019 election to Rugby Africa’s executive committee (Exco), where the ZRU president emerged with the highest votes by any candidate on the Exco, as 25 of the 27 delegates cast their ballots in his favour,” ZRU said.
“In the latest appointment made on February 8, 2021, which follows on his appointment in November 2020 to the Women Advisory Committee, Mr Jani will chair the key Rugby Academy sub-committee.”
Rugby Africa has different committees responsible for every facet of the game, among them is the Women’s Advisory Committee.
In particular, the Rugby Committee in Africa is split into three sub-committees.
The performance sub-committee is made up of countries competing for the right to represent Africa at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Further, the academy sub-committee consists of rugby playing countries who aspire to be in the performance group, while the third tier is the community level, which basically has rugby nations that are still in their infancy in terms of structures and performance.
The sub-committees are meant to ensure the systematic progression of nations in terms of their governance structures and performance, particularly through a transparent promotion and relegation system.
The ZRU gave an insight into the task that awaits Jani at Rugby Africa.
“As chairperson of the academy sub-committee, Mr Jani will provide leadership and help in selecting a team of competent individuals that will assist in monitoring, evaluating the performance of academy nations, which in itself is no mean task. In addition, his sub-committee will liaise with the academy nations to assess any structural issues that may exist so that his committee can make appropriate recommendations to the Rugby Africa executive committee for appropriate action and policy formulation to develop the game of rugby in the academy nations.”
It is believed that through Jani’s appointment, Zimbabwe will be able to contribute meaningfully to the development of the game in Africa. The country will be able to learn from other nations and help the development of the local game through tapping into the very competent technical staff from World Rugby and Rugby Africa.
ZRU added: “This appointment is also a vindication of the tremendous work he has done and continues to do for rugby in the country and the continental rugby body over the years.
“It is also a vote of confidence in the manner in which the ZRU has played its part in the growth of the national sport in particular and the continental game at large.”
