Munashe tackles the competition to join England Universities Rugby Team
MChem student and athlete Munashe Fumhanda has expressed his excitement at being selected to join the England Universities Rugby League team.
Munashe started playing rugby at around the age of 8, which eventually led to him representing South Yorkshire competitively. After a successful trial, he was then accepted into the academy of professional rugby league team the Sheffield Eagles, where he played in their U15 and U16 scholarships, moving to the U20s academy at 16.
In 2017, Munashe signed his first professional contract with the Hemel Stags, and has now been selected to join the England Universities team.
Munashe is the second student ever from our University to have been chosen to join the national squad.
He said: “When I found out that I’d been selected I was actually on the train on the way back from training at Hemel so I had to remain calm, but I was overwhelmed with excitement.
“It’s an honour to have been selected for the England squad this year. Being the only Leicester student to be picked for the squad in the 3 years I’ve been here as well as being part of a handful of students from the University to have been selected for International teams makes it even more special.
Hopefully this will help Team Leicester grow and attract students by demonstrating there are pathways through to representative sport”.
The 2018 team is made up of 26 of the country’s leading University Rugby League players from 15 UK universities, demonstrating the breadth of talent playing the game each in the University competitions.
Richard Tate, England Universities Head Coach, said: “ I’m really looking forward to working with these players and excited to see what this group can achieve this year”.
Munashe will now prepare for his first squad training weekend in early March whilst continuing with his academic commitments. The team’s first game will be against GB police on 18 April.