Cheetahs qualify for Rio 2016

Mbachi Mutukula-Maregere Sports Reporter
cheetahs winger Tafadzwa Chitokwindo was a ball of fire after scoring the tries that secured qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with a 41-5 victory over a hopeless Tunisia in the Confederation of the African Rugby Sevens Cup third-place play-off at Prince Edward High School in Harare yesterday. The Zimbabwe Cheetahs managed to finish third in this two-day tournament which was won by continental giants South Africa, who defeated Kenya 38-5 in the final.

The Kenyans took second place while Tunisia settled for fourth place. Namibia and Uganda could only grab fifth and sixth places.

In yesterday’s final day of the tournament, Germany-based wing Chitokwindo and Old Georgians’ Boyd Rouse, were the key players for the Zimbabwe Cheetahs, who were in full control of proceedings and gave the visitors a tough time whenever they were in possession of the ball.

Tunisia were the first to score in the first minute of the game but Chitokwindo quickly hit back for the Cheetahs by scoring a try which was converted by Rouse to give the hosts a 7-5 lead.

The Tunisians tried to hit back but their efforts were futile as Fortune Chipendu snatched the ball which landed in the hands of Chitokwindo who touched down again.

Rouse, however, missed the kick but Chitokwindo again quickly put the ball over the white line and gave the former another chance for a conversion.

The Old Georgians star —Rouse — redeemed himself this time around by scoring brilliantly and by half-time the Cheetahs were leading 19-5.

In the second half, the Cheetahs were in class of their own and Chitokwindo and Rouse made no mistakes in increasing their points tally.

The tries then just started coming one after the other for the Cheetahs.

Making a return since his injury last February, Graham Kaulback was also in top form and he scored the last try which he also beautifully converted for the Cheetahs.

After the match, Chitokwindo said he was proud of his team’s overall performance as they atoned for their 12-19 defeat to Kenya in the semi-finals earlier yesterday.

“I am very proud of the boys, we played some good rugby against Tunisia. We felt bad not to play in the final because we lost to Kenya and we could only get the comfort for our ourselves by winning with a bigger score against Tunisia in the third-place play-off.

“Tunisia were the first to score but we knew we were going to comeback and scoring four tries in one game was a big achievement for me and I must say that I was impressed with the performance and I’m glad the team was there to support me,” Chitokwindo said.

Chitokwindo was the top try scorer at the tournament as he scored more than 10 tries while Rouse scored most of the Cheetahs conversions throughout the tournament.

Besides the Cheetahs not winning the CAR tournament yesterday they the still have something to be proud of as they have qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Chipendu, who has been playing for the Cheetahs for more than four years and has captained the squad before, said although they did not come first in this event, they still have another good story to be proud of.

“Qualifying for the Olympics is a great achievement for the boys, we are among the top eight nations to qualify for the Olympics and we are very happy.

“We are now looking forward to competing at the Olympics and probably aim at beating South Africa who were very competitive at CAR. This year’s CAR was good and I played one of my best games of my life,” said Chipendu.

While the Cheetahs were celebrating their victory over Tunisia, their neighbours Zambia also rejoiced after beating Botswana 21-19 and won the Bowl.

Zambia captain Larry Kaushiku described his side as a young and talented outfit which is likely to be one of the top sides in CAR in the future.

“We are happy we won (the Bowl) and we are likely to be one of the best sides in CAR. We enjoyed our stay in Zimbabwe as this was a good tournament and I’m proud of my teammates. We did just as we were told by our coach,” said Kaushiku.

 

Zimbabwe Cheetahs:

Jacques Leitao (captain), Fortune Chipendu, Gardner Nechironga, Stephan Hunduza, Njabulo Ndlovu, Boyd Rouse, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Graham Kaulback, Riaan O’Neill, Shayne Makombe.