THE Zimbabwe Sevens Rugby team had to swallow a very bitter pill after narrowly missing to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Olympics last weekend.
The 2016 edition of the Olympics will see Sevens Rugby debuting as an Olympic sport.
Rugby (XVs) was last played at the Olympics in 1924.
The Cheetahs, as the Zimbabwe Sevens team are known, were in Johannesburg, South Africa, playing in the Olympics qualifiers.
Expectations were high that the Sevens team, coached by Danny Hondo, were to become Zimbabwe’s second team since 1981 to qualify for the global event after the Mighty Warriors last month.
The Cheetahs started their Pool B campaign with a victory over Nigeria (31-12) before beating Zambia 48-0.
Zimbabwe then cruised past Uganda 43-0, securing a berth in the quarter finals.
They met Nigeria from the same Pool and outclassed the West Africans 27-10.
In the semis, the Cheetahs beat Morocco 26-0 before the pulsating final against Kenya.
Hondo and his charges, despite dominating the game, fell in the final stages of the game.
They lost 21 – 17.
It is a painful loss for Zimbabwe who started working on the Olympic dream three years ago.
They have also been working on an International Rugby Board (IRB) core member status on several occasions.
An IRB core member status would have enabled Zimbabwe to play more international matches that could have helped in securing the berth at the Olympics.
South Africa and Kenya are the two continental representatives at the 2016 Summer games in Brazil.
Meanwhile, the XVs side, the Sables were hammered 5-50 by Russia on Tuesday in the inaugural edition of the Hong Kong Cup of Nations.
Portugal, Russia and Zimbabwe are part of the new tournament.
The defeat is a big let down to the team comprised of foreign and locally-based players.
Perhaps it is time for our rugby authorities to go back to the drawing board.