Richard Utete Tsimba (

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, Rhodesia, 9 July 1965 – 30 April 2000) was a Zimbabwean rugby union player. He played as a centre. He was nicknamed "The Black Diamond". Tsimba was the first black player to represent his country. He had 5 caps for

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, scoring 3 tries, 12 points in aggregate. All his caps came at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

. He played two games in the 1987 event, scoring two tries in the 21-20 loss to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 23 March 1987 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. At the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

he was used in all three of Zimbabwe's games, scoring a try in the 52-8 loss to Japan on 14 October 1991 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. He died in a car accident, aged only 34 years old. His wife and 3 daughters surviving him. On 25 October 2012, he was posthumously inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

; his living younger brother and fellow Zimbabwe international Kennedy Tsimba was inducted alongside him.

References

External links

* 1965 births 2000 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse Boys' School Sportspeople from Harare World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Zimbabwean rugby union players Rugby union centres Road incident deaths in Zimbabwe {{Zimbabwe-rugbyunion-bio-stub