The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
It is often said even the best plans can sometimes fall through, and it seems Lady Cheetahs gaffer Derek Kwayedza Chiwara has since come to this realisation.
The Zimbabwe women Sevens coach and his team were forced to be spectators during last weekend’s Rugby Africa Cup Women’s Sevens tournament in Tunisia as Madagascar booked their ticket to the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament, while his team finished eighth.
“So, we had a very vibrant and active first day; I would say it was productive even,” said Chiwara.
“The first day’s action obviously got us into the quarterfinal, and I would say it went very well and according to plan.
“It was always going to be a tough ask opening the tournament and we struggled to gel against Senegal, but did enough to grind a victory over the West Africans.
“Things went south when we went into day two and lost to Uganda (10-0) in the quarterfinals of the main tournament, and then to Zambia (21-14) in the Plate semi-finals.
“The girls simply did not execute the game plan; did not finish well. The game against Uganda was the turning point.
“After that, every other game was just downhill for us, as the zeal and passion were seriously lacking, and we did not have the drive to go to the next match.”
The Lady Cheetahs rounded up their participation at the tournament with a 7-29 loss to Ghana, which gave them an eighth-place finish.
Chiwara maintains there were some positives from tournament.
“From a technical point of view, I would say that we were not as mentally strong as we had imagined as that one defeat (against Uganda) got the girls to give up and not show up for the games that would have ensured us a higher ranking,” he said.
“However, there were some lessons learned from the whole experience, chief amongst them being to take each game as it comes.
“The good thing to come out of the tournament is that rugby, post-Covid-19, has shown that the women’s game has actually improved.
“The women’s game amongst the nations is actually becoming competitive.
“There wasn’t any outright dominant team; it was anyone’s game and any team could have taken that tournament.
“At the end of the day, we saw Madagascar and South Africa in the final, and any other team could have made it that far and competed against the two.
“This is a good sign for women’s rugby in Africa. There is so much growth and it was good to have a competitive tournament.”
Madagascar emerged as the surprise package of the tournament, making it all the way to the final where they fell to South Africa 14-15.
With South Africa having automatically qualified for September’s Rugby Sevens World Cup as hosts, it means runners-up Madagascar earned the sole slot up for grabs.
