Cheetahs moment of truth beckons

Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
CHEETAHS elusive back-liner Stephan Hunduza got a dream debut on the circuit for the Zimbabwe Sevens side when he powered his team to two wins in as many games on the opening day of the Hong Kong leg of the World Series.
The diminutive Harare Sports Club winger — who was last season’s top try scored in the local league — was on fire, scoring five of Zimbabwe’s 10 tries in their Pool E games of the core membership qualifiers.

The Cheetahs first thrashed Barbados 49-5 before edging Chile 19-14.
In the first game he scored a hat-trick against Barbados before adding a brace against Chile but he was not the only points scorer as his Harare Sports Club counterpart, flyhalf Lenience Tambwera, ended the day on 19 points

Zimbabwe’s two wins over Barbados and Chile mean that the Cheetahs ended the day on top of Pool E despite Russia winning both their games as the two sides were separated on points (scored) difference.

And today they take on Russia in the group decider before they know who their opponents for the quarter finals are.
But the moment of truth beckons today as the Cheetahs will know whether they become a core World Sevens Series member by end of day or they will have to wait another year.

The top two teams from each group and the two best runners-up will qualify for the knock-out stage.
If Zimbabwe finish top in this group, they will face Pool G runners up.

Finishing second would mean that they would face the winner of Pool G.
v Barbados (won 49-5)
This was a good way to start their campaign boosting the confidence of the whole side but most importantly that of elusive winger and World Series debutant Hunduza who scored a hat-trick. Zimbabwe went into the break with a 28-0 lead and in the second half they added another 21 points Barbados responding with an unconverted consolation try from Leon Driscoll.

The Cheetahs need seven tries all of them converted by Tambwera who finished as the top scorer in the game with 19 points followed by Hunduza who had a memorable debut with 15 points.

Other tries came from a second half brace from Tafadzwa Chitokwindo and substitute Biselele Tshamala’s last minute play.
Tambwera was the first on the score board after capitalising on  gap in the Barbados defence to place right under the posts and with just a little over a minute Zimbabwe had take a 7-0 lead.

Two minutes on, Hunduza — untouchable on the run — scored his first try in the Sevens World Series with a run from just inside the Barbados half out on the right.

Having been vital in support play, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo gave Zimbabwe a much stronger advantage with another try thanks to his fancy footwork that saw him beat three Barbados defenders to place on the left and take a 21-0 lead.

And with the last play of the first half, Hunduza was back to haunt Barbados adding his second try as Zimbabwe went into the half with a 28-0 lead.
However, Barbados got their first World Series try early in the second half and these were the only points they managed against Zimbabwe who went on to score three more tries to end the game with the highest score of the morning.

v Chile (won 19-14)
Chile proved to be a tough nut to crack for the Cheetahs and with the only try of the first half coming just before the half time whistle through Hunduza in the last minute before the break.

For the greater part of the game the Cheetahs camped in the Chile half, but despite the fact that all the players from Chile were taking part in the World Series for the first time, Zimbabwe found it difficult to get a break.

Just to show how good they can be, Chile came into the game at the back of a two point defeat to Russia — who are the most experienced team in the pool — following a 17-19 loss though they were leading by a try in the last minute.

The same kind of resilience they showed against Russia came again against Zimbabwe as they were good on the rucks, their defence was solid and fed a clean ball off the point of contact despite the Cheetahs dominating in territory.

But things changed in the second half. With just 44 seconds in the second period Njabulo Ndlovu made a powerful run on the left touch line beating two defenders with a powerful hand off, he had the pace and agility.

However, Mudariki missed the posts and this was the first time in nine tries that Zimbabwe missed a kick leaving Zimbabwe with a slender 12-0 lead. Hunduza once again showed his exploits made up of a good eye for the gap, speed, good ball handling skills despite lacking the height advantage and Mudariki’s boot was accurate to give Zimbabwe a 19 point advantage.

But then it seemed complacency hit the Cheetahs camp following the efforts of Chile second half substitute Francisco Gonzales who scored two self converted tries for his side to crawl back into the game but it was too late for them to snatch a win against the seemingly tiring Cheetahs.
Cheetahs Squad:

Biselele Tshamala, Jacques Leitao (captain), Jabulo Ndlovu, Stephen Hunduza, Lenience Tambwera, Hilton Mudariki, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Fortunate Chipendu, Boyd Rouse, Kilvan Magunje, Benjamin Nichols, Gardner Nechironga.