CHEETAHS captain Jacques Leitao says the team failed to handle pressure in their extra time quarter-final defeat to Italy in the HSBC Sevens World Series qualifier in Hong Kong on Saturday.
DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER
It was yet another case of so-near-yet-so-far for Zimbabwe’s Sevens rugby team as core status on the HSBC Sevens World Series once again proved a bridge too far to cross as they lost 12-17 to the Italians in sudden death extra time. The Cheetahs needed to win the 12-team qualifying competition to join the world’s top Sevens side on the nine-legged circuit which will also act as a part of the Olympic qualification process.
Led by speedster Stephan Hunduza, they looked on course to achieve that after topping their group with impressive wins over Barbados (49-5), Chile (19-14) and Russia (14-5).
Despite taking a slender 7-5 lead to half-time and taking the lead after the restart courtesy of a converted try by Hunduza, the Cheetahs fell short when it mattered most, as they conceded two late tries to crash out of the tournament.
It was another difficult pill to swallow for the Liam Middleton-coached side, who had done everything right to put themselves on the threshold of promotion to the elite series after having come agonisingly close in the last two seasons.
Leitao said the team failed to handle the pressure which resulted in the players making too many uncharacteristic handling errors during the Italy match. The injury to Boyd Rouse in the early stages of the match also worsened the situation for the Cheetahs as it meant they had to change their game plan.
“It was very disappointing to lose in the quarter-final after playing well in the pool games. Yes, we seemed to let the pressure of the quarter-final get to us and this saw us making errors where we shouldn’t have,” Leitao said.
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The seasoned forward, who had led his charges brilliantly from the front throughout the tournament, said he was hopeful they had gained some valuable lessons from the defeat.
“We said we would take one game at a time, but I believe we would have made the final if we had beaten Italy. However, we learnt valuable lessons in that pressure situation and hope and pray we can take those lessons to the next tournament and overcome whatever comes our way.
“On the whole we played some very good Sevens and got better with each game. I thought we had a good team vibe and the young players really stood up to the task. Everybody gained valuable experience from this tournament and we will only go forward from here.”
Meanwhile, the Cheetahs stalwart said their thoughts were with Rouse, who fractured an ankle during the Italy match.
