Russia rally at the death to snatch World Series spot from Zimbabwe
Vladimir Ostroushko thought he had thrown away Russia’s Sevens World Series hopes when he dropped the ball in front of his own posts and allowed Zimbabwe’s Kuda Chiwanza to score for a 19-17 lead seconds before the final hooter.
Vladimir Ostroushko thought he had thrown away Russia’s Sevens World Series hopes when he dropped the ball in front of his own posts and allowed Zimbabwe’s Kuda Chiwanza to score for a 19-17 lead seconds before the final hooter.
But Ostroushko quickly made amends with a stunning run from well inside his own half in his team’s last possession to give Russia a 22-19 victory in the qualifier final and a place in next season’s elite 15-team global circuit.
Zimbabwe were already celebrating when they kicked off after the final hooter but Russia, needing to score from one play, broke African hearts.
“I didn’t think we could do it,” said Russian coach Andrey Sorokin. “The players gave up for about two seconds but then we regrouped and Ostroushko made amends for his mistake.
“We are very happy to be among the top teams next season and I hope that we can be competitive.”
In a tight match, Russia took the lead inside one minute thanks to Dmitriy Perov but Zimbabwe quickly responded through Tafadzwa Chitokwindo for a 7-5- lead.
Russia sped ahead with two tries, one converted, via Yury Gostyuzhev and Eduard Filatov before Chitokwindo narrowed the gap with a converted effort to make it 17-14 to the Russians at half-time.
The second half featured tough tackling from both sides and, with seconds left, Russia looked to run the ball out of defence, which was the queue for Ostroushko to make his mark.
