Exclusive: Confirmation of Zimbabwe v South Africa A as Springboks curtain raiser premature with doubts and hesitations raised
Tino Mavesere of Zimbabwe and an inset of Jean-Luc du Preez playing for South Africa A.
Rugby Africa President Herbert Mensah’s announcement that Zimbabwe will face South Africa A in June are premature, Planet Rugby has learnt.
Mensah announced that the Sables would be facing off against a SA A team as a curtain raiser to the Springboks’ clash against the Barbarians on Saturday, 20 June at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
It’s the second year in a row that the Springboks will be facing the Baa-Baas in a match outside of the official international window, and just the second time in history that the Barbarians have played a match in South Africa.
Rugby Africa President’s announcement
Speaking ahead of his presentation to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mensah stated that the Sables will face a SA A team in June.
“I have wonderful announcements to make. The fact that before the South African Barbarians match in June, the Sables will be playing a South African A team in South Africa. It has never happened before,” he said in an interview with RugbyWireZw.
“The fact that we’ve been able to negotiate for Zimbabwe’s home matches to be in England has never happened before. Yes, maybe it should have been in Africa, but there’s a revenue base that might make sense for us playing with a huge Zimbabwean population in Europe at the same time.
“And I’m really hoping that this becomes the rebirth, the beginning.”
Reluctance from ZRU
However, sources close to the Zimbabwean Rugby Union have told Planet Rugby that the fixture has not been officially confirmed, and is not a foregone conclusion, as there is a reluctance from the board and coaches.
This is due to the fact that the match would take place outside of the official international window, meaning that the Sables team would need to comprise entirely of locally-based players.
Even if they were able to convince clubs to grant players an early release, outside of World Rugby’s regulation nine constraints, it could be a costly exercise with the union having to pay players to be in camp for a longer period of time ahead of the Nations Championship fixtures. A cost that is more than likely to outweigh the financial benefit of facing a South Africa A team.
A source states that there may well be a bigger appetite for a fixture against a South Africa A team at a later date, perhaps around August or September, when there is access to more of the players, but that a match in June offers little benefit to either nation.
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The Sables qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup by defeating Namibia in the final of the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup and are now set to make their first tournament appearance since 1991. Ending a 36-year absence in the tournament has ramped up the intrigue and support for the team and sport in Zimbabwe, and whilst there is an appetite to add more fixtures to better prepare the team for the global event, there is a notion of doing so with the bigger picture in mind.
While there is a healthy contingent of locally based players who represented the Sables last year, many do ply their trade at clubs outside of Zimbabwe, including Tino Mavesere (Sharks), Cleopas Kundiona (Northampton Saints), Victor Mupunga (Bourg-en-Bresse), Jason Fraser (Nevers), Edward Sigauke (Emeris in the Varsity Cup), Tapiwa Mafura (Lions), and Matt McNab (Doncaster), all of whom started the victory over Namibia.
Nations Cup
Like the Springboks, Zimbabwe will feature in the inaugural Nations Cup this year with fixtures against Tonga, USA and Canada scheduled to take place in July. The former two matches will be hosted in the USA, likely in the south, with the latter taking place in Canada.
All three of the Sables’ Nations Cup matches in November will be hosted in the United Kingdom, with Zimbabwe facing Samoa, Uruguay and Chile.
As for Rassie Erasmus’ men, they will host the Baa-Baas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha which will kickstart the Springboks’ 2026 international season.
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That will be followed by the Nations Championship fixtures against England, Scotland and Wales at Ellis Park, Loftus Versfeld and Kings Park Stadium, respectively.
New Zealand will then arrive on the African continent for the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour with the All Blacks tackling the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers and will face the Boks on three Tests, with the fourth taking place in Baltimore.