Newly recruited number eight at the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers, Kwanda Dimaza, says he feels right at home since joining the Wellington rugby team in November last year.
Dimaza spent five seasons at the Airlink Pumas before deciding to leave Mbombela for the picturesque Cape Winelands and mountainous terrain of the Western Cape.
The loose forward, who grew up in the Ginsberg township in Qonce (formerly known as King Williams’s Town) in the Eastern Cape, previously represented the Hollywoodbets Sharks after completing high school at Dale College.
Where he says he spent close to five years, working himself up through the ranks as a junior player and even made the 2019 Sharks Super Rugby squad, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out a year later.
Game time at the Sharks, however, was very limited, with Dimaza deciding to move to Mpumalanga and play for the Pumas in 2020. He can call himself a Carling Black Label Currie Cup champion after helping the team win the 2022 title.
Dimaza has, however, been seeking a new challenge, and after watching the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers perform remarkably well last season and reach the Currie Cup semifinals, he knew he had to become part of a team making waves in South African rugby.
“Just watching some of their games last season and their style of play attracted me,” Dimaza says. “It is the way that I like to play the game. The running rugby and offloads are some of the things that caught my eye.
“Overall, I think it is just the whole chemistry of the team, the cohesion that they have and their willingness to fight and play for coach Hawies (Fourie).”
One thing that did surprise Dimaza, though, since moving to Wellington, is the extreme heat in his new hometown. With temperatures typically around 31 degrees, during Bergwind conditions, they can reach 35 degrees.
That, however, does not stop Kavas’ strength and conditioning coach, Iver Aanhuizen, from putting him and the rest of the squad through their paces.
“The first two months when I came here, I noticed it can get extremely hot in Wellington. Nelspruit was hot and humid, but here it is on another level.
“Training has been hard in this weather, but it is getting better, even though Coach Iver sometimes shows no mercy.
“I enjoy it though, especially with a strength and condition coach that is willing to push you to reach new heights. At the end of the day, you get rewards out of it, and we could see that last year with the team reaching the Currie Cup’s semifinals.”
Besides working hard for Sanlam Boland Kavaliers’ upcoming SA Cup campaign, Dimaza has also gotten to know his new surroundings.
“Since I arrived here in November, I have gotten to do some sightseeing around the Western Cape,” he explains. “My new teammates here have been very accommodating by offering to show me around.
“We have even gone to watch some of the SA20 cricket games here in Paarl. It has been a good experience, and there really is a lot to do here.”
Vying for a regular spot in the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers matchday squad, Dimaza says that competing with the likes of Kwhezi Mafu, Thurlow Marsh, and Sbu Sangweni, among others: “It is a good battle at loose forward. We push each other in training, and I think that is what you want if you want to be a successful team.
“For me so far it has been good, and at the end of the day we want to make it difficult for coach Hawies to select who gets to play and who does not.”