BY ENOCK MUCHINJO IN KAMPALA, UGANDA
It is Saturday afternoon in fortress Kampala, the partisan home crowd baying for blood.
Zimbabwe leads Uganda 10-0 early in the first-half, and the Sables’ solidly-built wing Taku Musingwini has just made a try-saving tackle, really good textbook stuff.
Chuffed to have made the firm stop, the young left winger turns to his fellow three-quarter, the veteran inside-centre Kudzai Mashawi, pumping himself up and pointing to his own channel: “Hapana anopfuura apa! (No one will pass through here!).
At 21, United States-based varsity student Musingwini is already used to leadership and being vocal, but now he’s having to play under a lot of players more experienced and senior to him in the Sables set-up. Being led himself now by quite a number of battle-hardened warriors doesn’t however discourage Musingwini from motivating his teammates, and that war-cry on making the tackle against the Cranes player on Saturday was just one of several he issued.
What a difference two years can make, from being a skinny teenage fly-half captaining his country to the Youth Africa Cup title in 2022 and also skippering Prince Edward School, to a physical specimen now making the step up to Test rugby and being fearless about it.
But then again, it just brings out the modern-day rugby winger – powerful, fast and a good defensive game.
A lot more of this playing around with positions will be expected by coach Piet Benade as he continues to search for combinations for next year’s crucial round of World Cup qualifiers.
Ian Prior, the former Australia Under-20 half-back who is a regular scrumhalf, was preferred for the Sables’ fly-half role on Saturday and although he had some kicking struggles, he should be a key man in the Sables line-up in their pursuit for a World Cup ticket.
As for Musingwini, he had a very good outing, scoring one of Zimbabwe’s three scintillating first-half tries and later yellow-carded in a second half in which Zimbabwe just didn’t turn up.
Nothing was added to the 22 points from the first-half as Uganda nearly stole it in the end. Tries by Phillip Wokorach, the fullback and poster-boy of Ugandan rugby, as well as lock Innocent Gwokto, had the Ugandan crowd believing again but Zimbabwe just held on desperately to win 22-20.
The Sables play Namibia in the semi-final on Wednesday with Kenya and Algeria clashing in the other.
