Tinashe Kusema — It has been said that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", and coach Piet Benade and his Zimbabwe rugby squad appear to be the living embodiment of the old proverb.
On Sunday, Benade gave his charges a night off and an opportunity to let their hair down as they attended the Annual National Sports Awards (ANSA) at Cresta Lodge in Harare.
In the end it was a memorable night for the Sables and the Zimbabwe Rugby Union.
This is because Benade and his men were among the biggest winners of the night, with the mentor and his charges walking away with the Coach and Team-of-the-Year awards respectively.
For a portion of the night, some of the players could be seen merry-making around and fan-girling over the awards' ceremony musical act, Gemma Griffiths, as they celebrated what could possibly be defined as a breakout year in 2024 for national rugby.
"It's just lovely for rugby to be recognised; as a whole institution, we put a lot of effort into that season," said Benade.
He was natural enthralled by the double win.
"We managed to put up a couple of good results that, hopefully, made the nation proud.
"It is nice to have the opportunity to put our hair down and reflect on the year gone by.
"We are very happy that our efforts have been acknowledged and recognised, hope to do the same again this year," he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Sables' skipper Hilton Mudariki, representing the players, who said, "we are super proud of our coach.
"He is a great person on and off the field, and it showed in how every player put in the work and wanted to play for him.
"As for the team award, we are all super proud and happy that we put in the work and the ANSA saw it fit to acknowledge and reward us," he said.
After the ANSA party, it is back to business for the Sables. They are expected to regroup and resume their preparations for this year's Africa Cup.
The 2025 Rugby Africa Cup, scheduled for July 20-28 in Uganda, will also serve as qualification for 2027 World Cup and the tourney will feature eight of the continent's top teams.
Champions Zimbabwe will be the top seeds at the competition, which will also include Algeria, Namibia, Kenya, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Morocco, all batting for the sole ticket to the World Cup.
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According to the Rugby Africa Cup draw held earlier this year, Zimbabwe will kick off their campaign with a match against Africa Cup Repechage winners Morocco in one of the two Group A quarter-final matches.
An East African derby between Kenya and hosts Uganda will make up the second quarter-final.
The winners of the two matches will then meet in the first semi-final.
In the other pool, Africa powerhouses Namibia will date West African outfit Senegal, while Algeria and Cote d'Ivoire square up in the fourth quarter-final match.
The winners of those two matches will then make up the second semi-final.
"The Africa Cup and World Cup qualification are the main targets for the year 2025," said Benade.
"Those are the two areas in which we will be judged on; we have possibly three matches in 10 days, and we have to make them count.
"We resume training now and the goal is to make sure that we all our ducks in a row by the time we leave for Uganda.
"My job as a coach is to prepare the boys as best as possible and make sure that whoever plays us as to have the game of their lives to beat us," added Benade.
