adminGoing into the tournament, the Cheetahs needed to finish in the top four of the qualifier tier if they were to make it for the second and final leg of qualifiers in London mid-May but the Gilbert “Gidza” Nyamutsamba side went all the way.
This came in as a booster for the side who used the Spar International Sevens tournament on home soil three weeks ago to assess their performance against some of the sides that were also taking part in the qualifier.
Despite finishing second in Group G following a defeat to Russia on Saturday after winning two games over Mexico in the opening match and the Cook Islands on the same day, the Cheetahs managed to get their act together.
The Cheetahs only lost one game and that was against the Russians with a 12-21 loss in the final Group G game after putting up a wonderful performance in their opening game where they beat South Americans Mexico 29-0 on Friday.
And on Saturday, the Jacques Leitao-captained side continued from where they had left on Friday night to give the Cook Islands a 29-0 thrashing before the Russians came to spoil the Cheetahs’ good run.
But that was not for long as the wake-up call gave the Cheetahs more reasons to believe in themselves going into the quarter-finals where they got the better of Brazil who they beat 21-7 to progress to the semi-final.
And it was at this stage that the Cheetahs taught the Russians the same lesson they had learnt from them with Nyamutsamba proving technically superior to leave the Russians crying following a 19-5 defeat.
And then the Cheetahs were unstoppable, determined and classy when they went into the final against Tonga yesterday.
Cheetahs team manager and former Zimbabwe Rugby Union president, Bruce Hobson, told the IRB website that the preparations they have had since the start of the year, coupled with the recent tournament they took part in, helped in this pleasant win.
“We have been working hard since January. We had high expectations, we raised the level (at the Spar International Sevens) in Harare a few weeks ago and must be pleased with the win,” said Hobson.
Since the beginning of the year, the Cheetahs have been awarded with six-month contracts that will see them sail all the way to the World Cup in Russia in June with the aim of making the side a more conditioned and technically stronger team.
The contracts see most of the locally-based players training together with gym and field sessions at least three times a week where they will also get fitness tests on a more regular basis while coach Nyamutsamba takes the boys to the field. And the programme has started paying dividends for Zimbabwe.
Last year at the same tournament, Zimbabwe lost out of core-membership after losing to Portugal in the semi-final stage, resulting in them having to wait another year for them to try their luck and this time, they have one leg into core membership.
It might just be the beginning of the process but the Cheetahs definitely are motivated to go all the way in London where they will meet with some of the core members in their fight for glory as they aim to become a World Series member.
The Cheetahs, who were lively throughout the tournament with a magnificent record of five wins in six matches, will now head to the promotion play-off finale high in confidence.
Together with Russia, Georgia and Tonga they will compete for three available core team places on the 2013/14 HSBC Sevens World Series with Asian champions Hong Kong and the core teams ranked 13th, 14th and 15th after round 8, the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens.
Online Reporter