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Takudzwa Chitsiga-Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe men’s sevens rugby team coach Graham Kaulback believes taking part in the just-ended Zambezi Challenge was good for his side’s preparations ahead of the Africa Cup Sevens tournament scheduled for Uganda in a fortnight.
The Cheetahs settled for a bronze medal after they won their match against Zambia after having lost the semi-finals 15-17 to eventual winners Spartans from Botswana at Harare Sports Club at the weekend.
“I am obviously disappointed with the end result, but we are in a process. As the national team, we do want to win everything but looking at the positive side, we have learnt a lot ahead of our do-or-die assignment at the Africa Cup.
“It is really good to have these preparation tournaments. We are disappointed with end result but we are confident with the process that we have used,” Kaulback said.
Botswana club Spartans won the tournament by beating Zambia 1 26-14 in the final.
Spartans coach, Jeremy Babbage, was ecstatic with the win and said they had prepared well for the competition.
“It is an amazing feeling I never expected us to win but here we are. We are over the moon right now. My boys were the underdogs prior to this but here we are the champions,” he said.
Babbage’s opponent in the final, Andrew Kampinsa from Zambia, praised the organisation of the tournament and said more competitions of such nature should be put in place.
“I am happy and it was a good preparation ahead of the Africa Cup. The boys showed character and we are now going to work on our weaknesses.
The game was tough and physical but we tried hard. Congratulations to the winners,” added Kampinsa.
The ever-improving Lady Cheetahs managed to win women”s title after beating Zambia 12- 5 in an entertaining women’s final.
The Derek Chiwara-coached Lady Cheetahs, who are sponsored by Minerva Risk Advisors, were also using the same tournament to prepare for the Africa Women’s Sevens tournament to be held in Tunisia.
Lady Cheetahs star Robyn Mhembere was named the Zambezi Sevens Challenge Female Player of the Tournament after impressing throughout the two-day rugby sevens extravaganza.
The Zambezi Challenge Cup was organised by the Zimbabwe Rugby Union to give the Cheetahs more game-time ahead of the Africa Cup Sevens in Uganda, where they will be aiming to qualify for the Sevens Rugby World Cup to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in September. The Under-20 tournament was won by Harare Sports Club who got the better of Old Georgians 21-14 in the final as Raiders and Pitbulls settled for third and fourth place respectively.
Results
Under-20: Raiders 12, Harare Sports Club 29; Pitbulls 14, Old Georgians 21; XX Horns 0, Zimbiru 31; Raiders 7, Pitbull 4; Harare Sports Club 21, Old Georgians 14.
Women: Cheetahs Black 55, Cheetahs Green 0; Zambia 34, Cheetahs White 0; Cheetahs Black 12, Zambia 5.
Men: Old Georgians 19, Zambia 26; Harare Sports Club 0, Spartans 27; Matebeeland 1 29, Botswana 5; Zambia 2 14, Cheetahs 24; Harare Sports Club 24, Old Hararians 14; Zambia 1 43, Zambia 2 0; Cheetahs 15, Spartans 17, Spartans 26, Zambia 1 14.
Online Reporter