Hosts Zimbabwe took a best-ever third place finish at the Africa Rugby Women’s Sevens tournament at the Police Grounds in Harare on Sunday, as South Africa beat Kenya 22-17 in the final.

After a 31-5 semi-final defeat to Kenya in the eight-team African championship, the Lady Cheetahs beat Uganda 24-10 in the third-place match.

Tries from Precious Marange, Hilda Marange, Carol Malinga and Ruvimbo Musere gave Zimbabwe a convincing victory.

“We are happy that we are now number three in Africa,” said Zimbabwe captain Charity Mucucuti. “It shows that we've been training and that the coach has been teaching us something.”

Coach Abigail Kawonza feels that the team needs more game time as they pursue the dream of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics.

“We play one tournament a year, and we need that exposure so that we are not intimidated,” she said.

South Africa and Kenya played out an exciting final, with Kenya levelling at 17-17 in the final minute, but South Africa then scored a try with the last move of the match.

All of the visiting teams had warm praise for Zimbabwe's hosting of the annual tournament.