How South Africa helped shape Zimbabwe's World Cup dream
REACTION: Zimbabwe Rugby coach Piet Benade says going up against the SA ‘A’ and training against South African clubs have provided valuable preparation ahead of their first World Cup appearance in almost four decades.
The Sables played against the SA ‘A’ team in the curtain-raiser to the Springboks’ match against the Barbarians in Gqeberha on Saturday, and while they were blanked 40-0 by the South Africans, it was a run-out that can only stand them in good stead as they prepare for the global showpiece.
Zimbabwe won the Rugby Africa Cup after defeating Namibia in the Final to earn direct qualification to the 2027 World Cup in Australia. They last competed on the world stage in 1991.
They will face Tonga, the USA, and Canada in the opening three rounds of the Nations Cup in July.
*Article continues below…
#OPINION: Check out the South Africa ‘A’ Player Ratings after their 40-0 victory over Zimbabwe 👇#SouthAfrica #Springboks https://t.co/hJRt32Zz11
— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) June 20, 2026
“Being part of a day like this is very special for Zimbabwe Rugby,” Benade said of the match against the SA ‘A’.
“We have got a huge advantage over the previous Africa 2 team in that World Rugby have invested in the Nations Cup.
“So, that’s probably where we’re headed to; we’ll get a couple more bodies on the ground, so this is very important to us. We are hoping to add value to South African rugby, as we give value, we extract value for ourselves.
“So, hopefully South African rugby have found it a worthwhile investment and that we can continue this in the future.”
Benade, who had a stint with Western Province and the Pumas as a player in the mid-2000s, shared that he hopes for continued involvement with South African rugby and that competitive matches like the one against the SA ‘A’ will continue to take place in the future.
“We had a camp at the Blue Bulls three or four weeks ago. We trained against their Under-20, which was a good, valuable experience for us. So now our U20 boys and our girls teams have gone for a training camp.
“Just getting exposure to the South African system is very valuable…we’re very blessed to be right next to you. We can just jump across the river and we can find any level of opposition that we need to, whether it’s the club in Louis Trichardt, which we did visit this year, or venturing further south, and now playing against the South African ‘A’ team.
“We are very blessed, so now it is up to us to add value to your system as a good neighbour, hopefully that continues in the future.”
Register your interest to receive priority updates on RWC27 ticket releases. Don't miss out, stay in the loop!
