At the age of 15, while at Churchill, he was spotted by Zimbabwean coach Joey Muwadzuri who invited him to join the Under 19 side at the National Schools Festival.

Later that year Muwadzuri invited him to be part of Cats and Dogs Rugby Academy Team that won the National Seniors 7's tournament.

[citation needed] After a strong 2008 Super 14 season with the Sharks it was apparent that he had great potential and his speed would be beneficial with the new rules (ELV's).

Similarly, in the third test, Mtawarira was largely ineffectual in the scrum, with the returning Vickery and replacement John Hayes subduing him up front.

He was dropped to the bench for South Africa's loss to Australia on 8 September 2018, and sustained a neck injury against New Zealand on 6 October 2018, meaning he missed the Springboks' 2018 tour to Europe.

[10] As well as his 117 Test matches, Mtawarira has played uncapped games for the Springboks against the Barbarians in 2010 and 2016, and against World XVs in 2014 and 2015.

South Africa has a policy of only allowing its nationals to represent the country, although it has been somewhat flexible; the South African Rugby Union (SARU) officially cleared him to play with the Boks in the November 2009 Tests, after receiving clearance from the country's sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile.

In January 2010, Butana Komphela, an ANC member of the National Assembly and chair of its sports committee, publicly threatened to charge the SARU with "illegally" fielding Mtawarira and have him deported to Zimbabwe.

On 25 June 2010, the SARU announced that Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had granted Mtawarira's request for South African citizenship.