Sundaymail Editor
Petros Kausiyo in CAPE TOWN, South Africa
OUT of depth and totally outfoxed!
That was the story of Zimbabwe’s campaign at the ongoing Rugby World Cup Sevens, where the Cheetahs were reminded of the gulf in class that exists between them and the rest of the world.
Coach Graham Kaulback and his men saw their hopes of making an impact immediately evaporate on the opening day on Friday when Canada handed them a 31-7 hiding in a play-off for a spot in the round-of-16.
That defeat relegated them to the Bowl section.
But yesterday’s back-to-back defeats by Hong Kong, who hammered them 28-0 in the Bowl quarter-final in the morning, and South Korea, who edged them 21-19 in a ranking match, left Zimbabwe fighting to avoid the ignominy of leaving Cape Town with the World Cup’s wooden spoon.
The iconic Cape Town Stadium has been a hive of activity by hosting all World Cup matches.
Notably for Zimbabwe, a host of neutrals have been giving the Cheetahs support, cheering and applauding every meaningful move they made.
But Kaulback’s troops, easily the worst class of the Cheetahs at any World Cup, struggled with their game, and will now need to draw major lessons about the standards required at this level of the game.
This year’s World Cup is the sixth appearance by Zimbabwe, but they seem to be regressing with each outing.
Their worst run had been the 2018 tourney in San Francisco, US, where Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s group finished 23rd out of 24 teams.
It is a similar predicament that Zimbabwe face today when they play fellow strugglers Jamaica in a morning kick-off to determine who finishes in positions 23 and 24.
Yet, in a year that rugby emerged from the Covid-19 hiatus to become one of the stronger disciplines in the country, so much hope had been placed on the Cheetahs.
They, however, looked amateurish and struggled to even put in strong tackles.
They were no match for size against their opponents, who ran through their defence with ease.
Against Hong Kong they could not even put any points on the board. They also got off to a poor start against the South Koreans, who touched down just 30 seconds into their ranking match for the 21-24 places.
Hamstring injuries to key players Shingi Katsvere and Sam Phiri in the opening stages of the Hong Kong game compounded Zimbabwe’s woes.
Keegan Cook also sat out in yesterday’s matches because of injury.
One of the Cheetahs’ try scorers against South Korea, Godfrey Magaramombe, noted that Zimbabwe need to learn to get off the blocks early in this shorter version of rugby.
He rallied his teammates to have the big-game temperament.
“It’s always hard to adjust the nerves getting into the game, so I think some of the guys just need that extra switch earlier on in the game,” he said.
“I think we will be able to play better afterwards.”
Magaramombe emphasised the need for ball retention when the Cheetahs face Jamaica today, especially considering the Caribbean islanders are much bigger than them in size.
Captain Kudzai Mashawi and Tapiwa Mulenga were the only other players to have found tries for Zimbabwe yesterday.
Zimbabwe squad:
Tapiwa Mulenga, Kudzai Mashawi, Keegan Cooke, Ryan Mushumhi, Godfrey Magaramombe, Shingi Katsvere, Jerry Jaravaza, Munopa Maneta
Online Reporter