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It was all but a tough outing for the Young Sables who suffered three straight defeats in the group stages starting with a loss to Japan before Georgia rubbed more salt to the wound while Canada also proved a handful for Zimbabwe.

However, it was in their last game of the tournament that the Young Sables, who were anchored at the bottom of Pool B, managed to get a facesaver with a win over Russia who had also finished bottom of Pool A.

This was Zimbabwe’s first win in seven games having suffered four defeats last year in this tournament and it was only their second in 12 games over three years having beaten Papua New Guinea also in a seventh place playoff in Russia 2010.

Zimbabwe needed quick points on the board to win the game and James Forrester came in with a penalty less than five minutes into the game to give Zimbabwe the much needed win and from there they never looked back. A penalty from

Forrester, tries from winger Joshua Broomberg (unconverted), and two converted touchdowns from eighthman Tapiwa “Homley” Tsomondo and diminutive centre McLean Muhambi.

All of Zimbabwe’s points came in the first half while Russia responded through a late first half try from Roman Roshchin and another late second half try from Vladislav Sozonov.

First it was Forrester with the three points and within a minute Broomberg was gifted with a chance to place in the Russian in goal and he did not put that to waste after he broke loose to outpace the Russian defence.

Next to conquer the Russian defence was Tsomondo after he found a gap on the right to give the Young Sables a 15-0 lead as Forrester came in right with the conversion making amends for the earlier missed chance for bonus points.

With five minutes to go to the break, Muhambi, who missed last year’s tournament after suffering an ankle injury just a week before departure, added another touchdown that saw Zimbabwe stretching their lead.

And it was at the very end of the first half that Russia slowly started to show signs of recovery with a Roshchin unconverted try that saw the Young Sables go for the break with a comfortable 22-5 lead.

Zimbabwe had to do more of defensive work in the second half but they suffered a blow when front rower Andries Van  Heerden was stretchered off the ground in the 64th minute after he suffered an arm injury.

Eight minutes from Van Heerden’s injury, the Bears added another try that came courtesy of Sozonov to add another five points to their points tally and that was the last time that the scoreboard changed to give Zimbabwe a seventh place.

Definitely this is an improvement from last year when Zimbabwe finished eighth after suffering a 29-30 loss at the hands of this year’s champions and hosts the United States who beat Japan 37-33.

Truly the United States deserved to be named the Most Improved Team as they made a strong comeback from last year’s seventh place to clinch the JWRT title and gain promotion to the Junior World Championship.

However, the most pained team will be Japan who have been in every final over the past four editions and failing to make it for the elite league as they always fall where it matters the most.

And in all, in their four games Japan did not win by more than a converted try, beating Zimbabwe 39-36 in the opening game, winning 38-35 against Canada and 36-29 in the final group game and  Saturday’s loss to the United Stated was also in the same range.

But according to the Young Sables technical team, the win over Russia will work as a morale boosting result given that most of the players that took part in this game will be part of the Under19 side that will play in the Junior Africa Cup in August at Prince Edward.

And it is from this side that the Under-20 team will be built from.