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Ronald Mashinga, Sports Reporter

THE Cheetahs sevens national team emerged sixth in the first-leg of the inaugural World Rugby Challenger Series held in Vina del Mar, Chile, at the weekend.

The Cheetahs had a great start in their first two matches in Pool D, beating Brazil 21-14 and coming from 7-10 down at the break to beat Mexico 24-15.

They went on to succumb 19-24 to hosts Chile, who won all their three matches to top the group, while Zimbabwe were second.

Zimbabwe advanced to the quarter-finals alongside Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Chile, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Uganda.

The Cheetahs were whitewashed 0-33 by Japan and then fell 14-19 to Tonga in the fifth-place play-off, placing them sixth overall in the competition with 12 points.

Germany won the first-leg of the tournament after beating Hong Kong 10-0 in the final and lead the pack with 22 points, followed by Hong Kong with 19 points and Japan in third place going into the second-leg that starts on Saturday in Uruguay.

The second-leg will determine seeding for the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series 2021 qualifiers rescheduled for October in Hong Kong, due to the coronavirus epidemic. 

The final leg in Hong Kong has a play-off format, with the winner gaining promotion to the World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2020-21 season.

Meanwhile, the women’s World Rugby Challenger Series was confirmed last week and will take place in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on March 28-29.

The competition will be contested for by Argentina, Belgium, Japan, China, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Scotland and South Africa.

The Lady Cheetahs finished eighth in the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens tournament, missing out on the Challenger Series.