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Cheetahs got much needed game time at the Rome Sevens

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WITH a month before the Sevens Rugby World Cup takes place in the United States of America, Zimbabwe’ sevens rugby team, the Cheetahs, got much needed game time at the Rome Sevens where they lost 14-17 to Italy in the final on Saturday.

Coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s boys were missing six regular players, including skipper Hilton Mudariki, who were with the national fifteens team that drew 23-23 with Morocco in a Rugby Africa Gold Cup match in Harare on Saturday.

Zimbabwe put up a good show in Rome, with a 19-12 quarter-final victory over Scottish side Projecx Waterboys to book a place in the semis against a European Select, which the Cheetahs won 33-5.

In the final, the Cheetahs got off to a good start and led 14-5 at halftime, with a Tafadzwa Chitokwindo double. However, the Cheetahs failed to score in the second half.

France-based Shayne Makombe, who plays hooker in the shorter format of the game, was named Man of the Tournament after a good outing for the Cheetahs, which saw him scoring six tries in total. Chitokwindo was the leading try scorer for the Cheetahs after crossing the whitewash eight times.

Nyamutsamba believes the targets for playing in the Rome Sevens were achieved. These included getting his players to gel as a unit and assessing other players due to the absence of six senior players.

He said players such as Kudakwashe Chiwanza, Nelson Madida, Mkhululi Ndhlela, Takudzwa Francisco and Tarisai Mugariri proved themselves at the tournament, and this would increase competition for places ahead of the World Cup.

“Mugariri, Francisco, Madida, Chiwanza and Ndhlela came into the team and acquitted themselves well, giving the coach a wider pool of players to assess and choose from ahead of the World Cup next month,” Nyamutsamba said.

The Cheetahs returned home yesterday and they are expected in camp at the end of the month prior to departure for the United States for the Sevens Rugby World Cup in San Francisco from July 20-22.

@Mdawini_29