The side fell short of scooping the league title during the just-ended Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) season, but are not about to let the disappointment disrupt their plans.
Savage gave their all in the 10s league to secure a bronze medal after playing UB Rhinos and losing to Hogs 12-10 in the loser’s final. Former rugby player, Gorata Ratie Kgathi founded Savage in 2018 and the team made its debut in the BRU league the following year.
However, their progress was halted as COVID-19 soon hit in 2020. Kgathi told Mmegi Sport that in 2021 they started light training as they prepared for the upcoming season. “I started Savage the same year I stopped playing because I wanted to retire from active playing and at the same time give back to rugby. I thought starting a women’s rugby club would be a brilliant idea. I looked up to the late Mark Wilson; he was my coach when I played for Gaborone Hogs (GRFC).
He inspired me so much. I looked at how he would train the team and myself individually as well because he told me that he saw a lot of potential in me. He used to encourage me and that built confidence in me that I could do more,” she said. Kgathi said when she played rugby it gave her purpose and that gave her a reason to believe.
She wanted to impact others the same way Wilson did to her. She is the first woman in the country to be a certified World Rugby level two coach. She is also the first woman to be a coach educator in the country. Kgathi has a long list of accolades that make her count amongst the best in rugby. The vision for Savage is to empower young women and girls through rugby, assist them to lead a healthy life and overcome life problems through key concepts that come out of playing sport, particularly a team sport like rugby.
“You learn bravery, it builds confidence and you can withstand a lot of things. We give the girls school and work opportunities. The club has been able to receive funding from an organisation called Women Win, which is based in the Netherlands.
They sponsor organisations all over the world that allow women to exercise their rights to play. We received the fund in 2020 and they funded us again last week through re-grant.
They basically look at what you do with the funds, and they review your process and fund again,” Kgathi said. Vetina Elias joined Savage after completing a Safeguarding course through Sport Management Agency, which is owned by Game Mothibi and Tsosi Magang. Kgathi said the club is organising a branding workshop for the players, which will take place at the University of Botswana tomorrow. She said the workshop is one way to empower the girls. Kgathi said they are in talks with a club in Zambia for an exchange programme for players and supporting staff, whereby coaches will go there and players will follow suit. She said Zambia is the start and eventually will take the programme a bit further.
She said in the previous week, one player, Thato Pheto attended a first aid rugby course that was organised by BRU. The team manager, Blair Van De Merwe is due to attend a women's leadership course. Despite being a new club, Savage already has a national team player, Chawada Makhiwa. “Anybody is eligible to play for Savage and we get our players from anywhere. We invite them through our social media pages. We have got girls coming in from high school and we have some who are still in high school.
We are careful not to take much of their time, especially those who are in Form 5. We get our players from the Block 3 community where we are based, others come in from Mochudi, Kopong, and Gabane and their commitment is amazing.
The girls’ performance has been great, considering that we have not been playing for two years. To come back and get in shape has been remarkable,” the 31-year-old said. Kgathi said women’s rugby season started with Sevens but Savage did not finish in the top four because they had transport problems and could not travel to some games in Francistown. She said that left a huge dent and they failed to recover from that.
The season ended and the women moved to the 10s league, which ended last weekend. Kgathi said they were excited to finish in position three despite the tough competition they faced. “For me as a coach, I am always happy when the players exceed my expectations and do their best because there is nothing beyond that. They did everything they could and I was in Malaysia when they played.
I knew that we had trained and prepared for the moment,” Kgathi said. Regarding the league, Kgathi believes that a lot is being done right. Despite that, she observed that there is a small hiccup of clubs from far (outside Gaborone or Francistown) not being able to honour fixtures, adding that the gap should be closed. “When Savage failed to go to Francistown something could have been done, BUIST Rugby Club also did not finish their 10s league, they only played the first round. We do not have a problem with rugby being taken to other areas of the country but clubs should be assisted to travel.
Look, running a club is not smooth, especially for me. I am the founder, chairperson and coach of the club so I do a lot of work for those portfolios and sometimes it gets heavy for me,” she said. Kgathi said Savage will elect a new executive committee in October as a way of having a proper structure. She said Savage has been transformational, from nothing to something and they have a lot that they want to do.
Savage wants to get a field, a home, and professionalise the sport where players are paid.
