Mehluli Sibanda in HARARE
GEORGIA are the winners of this year’s edition of the Kwese Invitational Sevens rugby tournament after they defeated Zimbabwe 19-14 in a hard fought, entertaining final played at Harare Sports Club’s Machinery Exchange Stadium on Sunday.
The Gilbert Nyamutsamba coached Cheetahs had the lead for the better part of the match but conceded a try right at the end which saw the visitors being crowned champions.
Georgia, taking part in the Kwese Invitational Sevens for the first time outscored Zimbabwe by three tries to two to be crowned champions.
Zimbabwe and Georgia contest for the ball in Kwese Invitational Sevens final
Shingirai Katsvere opened the scoring for the Cheetahs after a lovely offload by Biselele Tshamala which saw the former sprint all the way to the try line. Katsvere booted in the conversion to put the Cheetahs 7-0 in front.
Georgia hit back with a converted try which saw the scores level at 7-7.
Brandon Mandivenga restored Zimbabwe’s lead when he went on the blind side to plant the ball over the line with Boyd Rouse’s conversion from a tight angle seeing the Cheetahs lead 14-7 heading into the break.
Georgia scored a converted try early into the second half and the scores were again level at 14-14.
Mandivenga got a yellow card which meant he had to spend two minutes in the sin bin with the Cheetahs one man short and the Georgians took advantage of their numerical superiority to win it right at the end when they scored on the left corner.
Zimbabwe’s women team, the Lady Cheetahs defeated Zambia 31-0 in the final to emerge as the best female team in the tournament.
Lady Cheetahs salute fans after winning women’s section at Kwese Invitational Sevens
Prince Edward were the schools champions, winning on a technicality over Churchill after the two draw 7-7 but the Tigers took it by virtue of having been the first to score a try.
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