Powerful FNB Madibaz forward Chris Kachungunu says he has been living out his dreams on the rugby field, but it has been one shared with his teammates.
The lock, standing tall at a shade under two metres, was named the Player that Rocks in his team’s 30-0 whitewash of FNB UKZN just over a week ago.
Kachungunu, who made his first team debut in 2022 after impressing for the Young Guns, was surprised at receiving the accolade because of the “many great performances” in the match.
“This is the first time I have won it and, to be honest, I was shocked at first,” the 21-year-old admits after leading the Gqeberha side to their second straight win in the 2024 FNB Varsity Shield.
“But when they came up to me, I was really happy and grateful. I couldn’t help but let my excitement show, as you can probably see from the picture they took.”
Yet, the forward, who does duty on the flank of the scrum from time to time, acknowledges that nothing is achieved on the pitch as a solo warrior.
“It wasn’t just me,” he says, pointing at the rest of the team’s role in stealing almost all of their opponents’ lineout balls and several scrums to boot.
“That took their forwards out of the game, which is exactly what we wanted. I did what was expected of me – being a nuisance to them in the lineout and on defence and even attack.”
The fourth-year biokinetics student highlights the importance of dominating up front.
“It all starts with the forwards and if you can shut down their forwards, you deprive their backs of the ball. That’s exactly what we did.”
Kachungunu says the Madibaz are determined not to get carried away by their solid start to their 2024 campaign.
“There’s a great spirit and the boys are amped up, but we know we can’t allow this to go to our heads as the job is not yet done.”
