Zimbabwe women's national rugby union team

For the men's team, see Zimbabwe national rugby union team.

Zimbabwe

Nickname	Sables
Union	Zimbabwe Rugby Union
Head coach	Munyaradzi Mhonda
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	50 (as of 2 June 2025)
Highest	49 (2023)
Lowest	52 (2024)
First international
Zimbabwe   0–28   Zambia (Harare; 22 September 2007)
Biggest win
Zimbabwe   72–0   Namibia (City Park, Cape Town; 19 June 2022)
Biggest defeat
South Africa   108–0   Zimbabwe (City Park, Cape Town; 15 June 2022)

The Zimbabwe women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Zimbabwe, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 2007.

History

Zimbabwe's women's team are known as the Women Sables. They played mostly friendlies with Zambia and Botswana before they played their first international test match on 22 September 2007 against Zambia at the Harare Sports Club. ^[1]

They competed at the 2025 Rugby Africa Women's Cup Division 1 tournament that was held at Stade Auguste-Denis in San-Pédro, Ivory Coast. ^{[2] [3]}

Results summary

(Full internationals only, updated to 19 April 2025)

Zimbabwe Internationals From 2007

Opponent	First Match	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Win %
Botswana	2017	1	1	0	0	10	5	100%
Ivory Coast	2025	1	1	0	0	46	8	100%
Namibia	2022	1	1	0	0	72	0	100%
South Africa	2022	1	0	0	1	0	108	0%
Tunisia	2025	1	0	0	1	24	27	0%
Uganda	2021	3	0	0	3	10	138	0%
Zambia	2007	3	0	0	3	33	68	0%
Summary	2007	11	3	0	8	195	354	27.3%

Results

For information about the status of international games, see Women's international rugby union § International women's matches.

Full internationals

Won

Lost

Draw

Test	Date	Opponent	PF	PA	Venue	Event	Ref
1	22 September 2007	Zambia	0	28	Harare	Test	[4]
2	22 July 2017	Botswana	10	5	Hartsfield Rugby Grounds, Bulawayo	Test	[5]
3	13 July 2019	Zambia	18	19	Harare Sports Club, Harare	Test	[6] [7]
4	14 September 2019	Zambia	15	21	Chester Dean Arena, Lusaka	Test	[8] [9]
5	14 July 2021	Uganda	0	41	Kyadondo Rugby Club, Kampala	2021 Africa Cup	[10] [11] [12]
6	18 July 2021	Uganda	3	34	Kyadondo Rugby Club, Kampala	2021 Africa Cup	[10] [11] [13]
7	15 June 2022	South Africa	0	108	City Park, Cape Town	2022 Africa Cup	[14] [15] [16]
8	19 June 2022	Namibia	72	0	City Park, Cape Town	2022 Africa Cup	[14] [15] [17]
9	11 April 2025	Ivory Coast	46	8	Stade Auguste-Denis, San-Pédro	2025 RAC Div. 1
10	15 April 2025	Tunisia	24	27	Stade Auguste-Denis, San-Pédro	2025 RAC Div. 1
11	19 April 2025	Uganda	7	63	Stade Auguste-Denis, San-Pédro	2025 RAC Div. 1

Other matches

Date	Zimbabwe	PF	PA	Opponent	Venue	Ref
2017-05-27	Zimbabwe Sables	10	17	Botswana Vultures	Gaborone
2017-06-03	Zimbabwe Sables	39	0	Zambia XV	Police Ground, Harare
2018-07-11	Zimbabwe XV	18	19	Zambia XV	Mufulira	[18]
2018-07-15	Zimbabwe XV	3	7	Zambia XV	Mufulira
2021-06-02	Zimbabwe XV	22	31	Zambia XV	Harare	[19]
2021-06-05	Zimbabwe XV	17	38	Zambia XV	Harare

References

1. "Women Sables – Zimbabwe Rugby Union". Zimbabwe Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
2. Nicole, Vervelde (10 April 2025). "A Nice Balance of the Regions as Côte d'Ivoire Hosts Rugby Africa Women's Cup Division 1". Rugby Afrique. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
3. Nicole, Vervelde (11 April 2025). "Rugby Africa Women's Cup Division One: Where to Watch Match Day One Today?". Rugby Afrique. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
4. "Women Sables". Zimbabwe Rugby Union . Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
5. "ZimbabweBotswana". World Rugby . 22 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
6. "Zimbabwe vs Zambia". World Rugby . 13 July 2019. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
7. "Zambia lift first women's Victoria Cup". ScrumQueens.com. 14 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
8. "Zambia vs Zimbabwe". World Rugby . 14 September 2019. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
9. "Last minute Zambian Victoria Cup win". ScrumQueens.com. 15 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
10. "Series of test matches between various African teams". Rugby Africa . Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
11. "Women gear up for Zambia test". The Namibian . 9 November 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
12. "Match Sheet". Rugby Africa . 14 July 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
13. "Match Sheet". Rugby Africa . 18 July 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
14. "South Africa qualify for Africa Cup finals". ScrumQueens.com. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
15. "Results on Rugby Afrique Facebook". Rugby Africa . 24 June 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
16. "South Africa vs Zimbabwe". World Rugby . 15 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
17. "Zimbabwe vs Namibia". World Rugby . 19 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
18. "Africa's first XVs championship". ScrumQueens.com. 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
19. "Zambia win "Battle of the Zambezi"". ScrumQueens.com. 5 June 2021. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2023.

External links

• Zimbabwe Rugby Union Archived 3 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• Zimbabwe at World Rugby