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A one-sided mauling at the hands of recently-crowned Paris Sevens champions Samoa ended Zimbabwe’s hopes of nicking the last remaining ticket to this year’s summer Olympic Games. Samoa beat Zimbabwe 21-7 in the Cheetahs final group game of the Olympic Repechage tournament in Monaco, France last night.
The defeat saw the Cheetahs finish third in Group A with four points, while leaders Ireland and Samoa sailed through to today’s knockout stage. The Daniel Hondo-coached side will rue their missed chances after they went down 12-24 to Ireland in their opening fixture.
Converted tries from Boyd Rouse and Manasah Sita were not enough to keep the Cheetahs in the game, as Ireland ran away with the match. Lenience Tarembwa chipped in with the conversions.
A bit of parity was restored when the team bounced back and beat Tonga 21-14, with Tarembwa this time weighing in with two tries of his own, while Shayne Makombe added a third. The Old Georgians fly-half converted all three tries.
Unfortunately, the Cheetahs could only manage a converted try from skipper Hilton Mudarikwa in the dying minutes of their game against Samoa, which the Pacific Islanders ran away with.
Zimbabwe have been relegated to the Challenge Trophy and will face either South Korea or Mexico, who were both yet to finish their fixtures at the time of going to print.
Online Reporter