Qualifier favourites Spain bundled out by on-fire Cheetahs
The dream of joining the Sevens World Series ended for two more teams on Sunday as Papua New Guinea and pre-tournament favourites Spain were bundled out at the semi-final stage.
The dream of joining the Sevens World Series ended for two more teams on Sunday as Papua New Guinea and pre-tournament favourites Spain were bundled out at the semi-final stage.
PNG lost 26-7 to Russia in the last four of the World Series qualifier at Hong Kong Stadium, while Spain were beaten 24-14 by surprise package Zimbabwe.
They join hosts Hong Kong among the scrapheap of sides hoping and failing to become one of the 15 core teams for next season’s global tour. Hong Kong had lost out to Russia in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening.
Russia have proven to be a powerful unit in the qualification competition, especially during their utterly dominating performance against Hong Kong.
Tries by Ilya Babaev, Vladimir Ostroushko, Vladislav Sozonov and Yury Gostyuzhev were enough for Russia in the semi-final while, Wesley Vali scored and converted his own try for PNG.
Spain got off to an expected lead against Zimbabwe thanks to Cesar Sempere’s early score, but the Cheetahs replied with three unanswered tries from Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Stephan Hunduza and Boyd Rouse.
Ignacio Martin gave Spain brief hope with a second-half dot-down, but Kilvan Magunjie’s 60-metre run-in sealed it for Zimbabwe soon after he was brought on as a replacement.
