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Fungai Muderere, [email protected]

ORGANISERS of the inaugural week-long Mwana Group International Rugby Festival set for Harare’s Prince Edward High School at the end of April have revealed that the meet will run concurrently with coaching courses.

The tournament will see about 120 schools participating between April 28 and May 4.

About 120 primary and high school institutions are expected to take part in a rugby meet that will feature top teams from Zimbabwe, international teams, primary school tournaments, girl teams, and development teams.

It is a competition that is equal to the famous Cottco and Dairibord Rugby Festivals which were previously held in the country on an annual basis.

“The festival organisers saw it fit to have the various courses being conducted during the tournament mainly because we will be having several individuals from across the country coming together for the week-long tournament thus it will be a great opportunity to conduct these crucial courses whilst we have everyone in one place. Furthermore, participants will have the opportunity to attend more than one course within the week thus saving time and resources,” said Sikhumbuzo Muchenje who is part of the festival’s secretariat.

The one-day world rugby courses that will be conducted are Level One Coaching 15s, Level One Match Officiating, First Aid in Rugby, Activate with Planning, Level One Strength and Conditioning, Sports Education, and Sports Business Course.

Participants at the festival will range from Under 13, 16, and 19 girls and boy’s teams.

“Currently, we have five confirmed teams from Malawi, Zambia, and Botswana. These teams have both female and male teams as well as U16 and U19 teams,” said Muchenje.

She said the Mwana Group International Schools Rugby Festival comes in as an effort to resuscitate the traditional school’s rugby tournaments that have traditionally been held since 1986.

“The festival has gone through various evolutions with the name of the festival being changed to fit the various headline sponsors over the years.

These names include the United Bottle Company Festival which was from 1986-1987, David Whitehead Rugby Festival between 1988 to 1997, Cottco Rugby Festival between 1998 to 2013, and The Dairibord Rugby Festival between 2014 to 2019.

“The tournament was halted by the Covid pandemic between 2020 and 2022 and faced some organisational challenges for the 2023 edition. Mwana Group therefore steps in for the 2024 to 2028 editions. This will be the first edition of the Mwana Group International Schools Rugby Festival, and we look forward to a successful tournament,” she said.

With regards to their partners, she said they were still getting more to come on board.

“So, the list is not conclusive and is subject to further additions. However, we would like to thank Zimbabwe Rugby Union, DFT Auto Parts, Drug-Free Zimbabwe, Firstlink, and TK-Foods for coming on board for this festival,” Muchenje said. – @FungaiMuderere.