Rugby Africa’s dilemma one of big dreams and small budgets

Namibia and Zimbabwe contest the final of the Rugby Africa Cup in Kampala on Saturday, where the winner will earn a place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia and represent a continent with big ambitions in the game but scarce resources to fulfil them.

Namibia have appeared at every World Cup since 1999, while Zimbabwe contested the first two in 1987 and 1991, but have not been back since.

They beat Namibia 32-10 in 2024, suggesting their chances are good.

Namibia’s success at reaching the global showpiece event is largely down to their exposure to the SA rugby ecosystem, which is among the best in the world and helps to polish the country’s rough diamonds.

There is no shortage of passion for the game across Africa, from Morocco and Algeria in the north, Senegal and Ivory Coast in the west, to Kenya and Uganda in the east.

Madagascar sees crowds of up to 30,000 supporters at domestic fixtures, sometimes more than football, which still reigns supreme as the number one sport on the continent.

But taking this enthusiasm and turning it into developing teams that can be competitive on a global scale beyond SA’s Springboks is a huge challenge.

“People often ask why only Namibia qualifies for the World Cup,” said Rugby Africa president Herbert Mensah. “The truth is that sport is big business. Countries like England receive more than £150m annually to fund their national rugby programmes.

“In contrast, the entire continent of Africa, excluding SA, receives about £1.49m. That disparity limits what we can do.

“We have over 40 Rugby Africa member nations. Air travel alone, say, from Dakar to Madagascar, can cost upwards of $2,000 [per person]. Development isn’t just about passion, it’s about resources.

“We need funding to sustain age-grade competitions, develop women’s rugby and run grassroots programmes continent-wide. Right now, that infrastructure is still lacking.”

But it is not all doom and gloom. Mensah, a member of World Rugby’s executive board, says African governments are starting to see the value in investing in the game beyond the millions of dollars they generally put into football annually.

“We’ve seen massive buy-in recently,” he said. “Uganda’s government committed over 3-billion shillings [$838,457] to host the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup. Morocco, Ghana and Ivory Coast have all supported events financially.

“Morocco allocates more than 1% of its GDP to grassroots sport, including rugby. There’s real momentum.

“This shows we’re not solely reliant on World Rugby. The more governments invest, the more attractive we become to sponsors. It’s a multistep strategy, first governments, then sponsors. That’s how we scale the game.”

Reuters