Zimpapers Sports Hub
It was a good day in the office for the Zimbabwe rugby sevens side as the Cheetahs stretched their unbeaten run to six games and, more importantly, qualified for the knockout phase of the Safari Sevens in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday.
The Cheetahs saw off South African side GEL Sevens 24-17 and held off the challenge of Kenyan developmental side Kenya Morans to draw 12-all at the Nyayo National Stadium.
The results mean that Zimbabwe and the Kenya Morans both go through to the quarter-finals that begin today, with the hosts topping the group, while the Cheetahs finished second owing to the former’s superior score aggregate.
The two teams will take solace in the fact that they both managed to scrape through the group stages unbeaten, with Cheetahs coach Fortune Chipendu mindful of his charges’ poor defence and awful kicking.
Zimbabwe began with a less than stellar performance as the Cheetahs had to come back from a 12-7 deficit against GEL 7s, but totally dominated with three unanswered tries in the second half.
Carlos Matematema gave the Cheetahs a lifeline with a try of individual brilliance to keep Zimbabwe in the game after a brace from GEL 7s’ Pieter Bryan.
The trio of Kudakwashe Nyamakura, skipper Tapiwa Malenga and winger PK Manyakara then joined the party with three quick tries in the second half to press home the advantage for the Cheetahs.
Unfortunately, Ryan Musumhi missed two of the three conversions, but the Cheetahs had done enough to get the all-important win.
The Kenya Morans beat Wonder 7s 35-12 to set up a winner-takes-all decider for the group against Zimbabwe.
That match unfortunately ended 12-12, with the hosts pipping the Cheetahs to top spot on score aggregate.
Zimbabwe now find themselves on a collision course with Kenya’s senior side, Shujaa, who also booked their place in the quarter-finals with an unbeaten run of their own.
Shujaa bounced back from Friday’s 21-21 draw against South Africa’s SportPesa Fast Forward 7s in their Group A opener to claim two victories over Scotland 22-0 and Uganda 21-5.
Safari 7s results
Zimbabwe 24-17 GEL Squad 7s
Kenya Morans 40-12 Wonder 7s
French Renegades 24-12 Southern California Nomads
Shogun 29-7 Wellington Jaguars
Uganda 17-24 SportPesa Fast Forward
Kenya Shujaa 22-0 Scotland
GEL Squad 7s 12-29 Wonder 7s
Southern California Nomads 15-26 Wellington
Jaguars
SportPesa Fast Forward 38-17 Scotland
Kenya Morans 12-12 Zimbabwe
Shogun 29-7 French Renegades
Kenya Shujaa 21-5 Uganda
