Richard Tsimba

Richard Utete Tsimba (Salisbury, Rhodesia, 9 July 1965 – 30 April 2000) was a Zimbabwean rugby union player. He played as a centre. He was nicknamed "The Black Diamond".

Birth name	Richard Utete Tsimba
Date of birth	(1965-07-09)July 9, 1965
Place of birth	Salisbury, Rhodesia
Date of death	April 30, 2000(2000-04-30) (aged 34)
School	Peterhouse Boys' School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre Current team -- Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1985-87 1987-89 1990-95 Chaminuka RFC Belmont Shore RFC Old Georgians RFC () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1987-1991 Zimbabwe 5 (12)

Tsimba was the first black player to represent his country. He had 5 caps for Zimbabwe, scoring 3 tries, 12 points in aggregate. All his caps came at the Rugby World Cup. He played two games in the 1987 event, scoring two tries in the 21-20 loss to Romania on 23 March 1987 in Auckland. At the 1991 Rugby World Cup 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.

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

External links

• Richard Tsimba at the World Rugby Hall of Fame
• Richard Tsimba at ESPNscrum
• Richard Tsimba at ItsRugby.co.uk