Durban - Zimbabwean born-Springbok rugby player, Tendai Mtawarira says he is South African and would like to keep on playing for that country.

He said this in an interview at the weekend with a Durban-based weekly newspaper while responding for the first time to news that he is might be deported back to Zimbabwe from South Africa for playing for the Springboks in contravention of the sporting rules of the country.


“I am a South African at heart. I love this country. It has become my home. It is everything to me,” said Mtawarira in the interview.

The 24 year-old Zimbabwean has been playing for the Springboks over the last two years travelling around the world with the team. He has put up splendid performances for both the Springboks and his Durban-based club side the Sharks. He has earned himself the name, “The Beast” in the process. But despite his exploits Mtawarira is not a South African citizen. The country’s sporting regulations requires one to be a citizen inorder to be able to play for any national team.


Mtawarira became a household name in South African rugby after he was snapped by the Sharks Academy after graduating from Peter House College in Marondera.


Mtawarira said he hopes God will see him through his current troubles. “The good lord placed me on this earth for a reason. He has a great plan for my future. I am at peace and will always be an ambassador for Jesus Christ.”