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Cheetahs future bright – Hondo

Sport
ZIMBABWE Sevens rugby coach Daniel Hondo believes the future is bright for his team after they came agonisingly close to attaining core status on the World Rugby Sevens World Series at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday.

ZIMBABWE Sevens rugby coach Daniel Hondo believes the future is bright for his team after they came agonisingly close to attaining core status on the World Rugby Sevens World Series at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday. BY DANIEL NHAKANISO

Kuda Chiwanza looked to have secured a win for Zimbabwe in the final before Russia’s Vladimir Ostroushko scored the decisive try on the siren to seal a 22-19 win and the right to participate in every World Series tournament for the 2015-16 season.

The heartbreaking loss was reminiscent of another near miss in 2012 when the Cheetahs led Portugal 17-7 with a minute to play before the opponents scored twice before the hooter to win 21-17.

However, Hondo, who has experienced the disappointment of missing out at the final hurdle as a player said he had taken heart from the way his charges played throughout the competition.

“Obviously our goal when we left for the University of Stellenbosch before proceeding to Hong Kong was to win the qualifying tournament and gain core status on the World Series for next year,” Hondo said after his team’s arrival yesterday afternoon.

“We were obviously disappointed not achieve our goal but we had a great weekend of rugby and I’m proud of the way the boys played in all games.

“We managed to start well right from the first pool match against Guyana which we needed to win to set the tone. I was particularly impressed the way we spread the ball and scored many tries throughout the tournament while also maintaining a solid defence. To me that shows we are heading in the right direction and we can compete against any team,” he said.

The long serving former Sables captain said they would not give up on their goal to become a core team next year but their immediate focus was to qualify for the 2015 All Africa in August Games and next year’s Olympic Games. “The goal is still to qualify for core status next year and we will stay focused on that but for now we are looking at getting into the All Africa Games and the Rio Olympics.

“We have a very strong side and the young players, who form the bulk of the squad, have blended well with the more experienced players,” he said.

The Cheetahs got their campaign at the Hong Kong Sevens off to a flying start with wins against Guyana (36-0) and Tonga (41-0) last Friday before losing 0-10 to Spain in their final pool stage match.

Despite the defeat to Spain, Zimbabwe still qualified as the best placed runner up in the pool stages where they played against Brazil who they beat 21-14 to set up a semifinal clash with Spain.

In an intriguing contest the Cheetahs managed to get their revenge as they recorded their first ever win against the Spaniards in the 24-14 win to reach the final.

Cheetahs Results in Hong Kong Pool Games: Zimbabwe 36 -0 Guyana, Zimbabwe 41 – 0 Tonga, Zimbabwe 0-10 Spain Quarterfinals – Zimbabwe 21-14 Brazil Semi Finals – Zimbabwe 24-14 Spain Final – Zimbabwe 19-22 Russia