The 12 best African teams compete in the Africa Men’s Sevens tournament, the biggest Africa rugby event

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The 2018 competition season of Rugby Africa will end on a high note with the Africa Men’s Sevens tournament in Jemmel, Tunisia this weekend…

The twelve best African teams (apart from South Africa) will compete for the African Champion title. In 2019 they will be joined by Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have just been promoted from regional pre-qualification events. The 2019 Africa Men’s Sevens tournament will serve as Olympic Qualifier for Tokyo 2020. It is worth noting that should Kenya and South Africa – the two African teams competing in the Sevens World Series – finish in the top 4 of the 2018-2019 Series, they will automatically qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games. If they don’t, they will have to play in the 2019 Africa Men’s Sevens to earn their right to feature in the Olympic Games.

But right now, the focus is in Tunisia on the 2018 edition of the Africa Men’s Sevens tournaments being the biggest African rugby event with 12 teams from all over the continent: Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia.

In 2017, Kenya did not take part in the annual African tournament as they had already qualified for the Sevens World Cup based on their performance in the previous World Cup. But this year, they are back in the game and as keen as ever to be crowned African Champion.

Kenya Rugby Union President, Richard Omwela, is in Tunisia to support his team and comments:

“Kenya has just concluded the 20th edition of the Stanbic Bank National Sevens Circuit which serves as the national club sevens championship and it has again proven to be as competitive as ever, Menengai Cream Homeboyz winning a second overall title in three years. It has additionally unearthed amazing talent such as Stanbic Mwamba youngsters Daniel Taabu and Ronnie Omondi, Mark Wandetto from Homeboyz to name but a few who all have been selected in a 31 man provisional Kenya Sevens squad for the 2018/19 season. We hope to see these youngsters linking up with experienced hands like Collins Injera, Andrew Amonde and Eden Agero as we plot to reclaim our Africa title and take on the world during the upcoming season.”

This event is also an exciting opportunity for younger teams to assess their progress against stronger sides the likes of Kenya, Uganda or Zimbabwe.

According to Mr Herbert Mensah, President of Ghana Rugby, this will only be the second time that Ghana will take part in the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens tournament and the Union is looking forward to using the opportunity to develop its players. “Ghana is definitely still the underdog, as it was in 2017. The coaches and players have worked hard and everybody is looking forward to the opportunity to gain some much-needed match experience.”

Similarly, Botswana Rugby team manager, Matthew Gibson is very excited about the upcoming tournament. “We have opted to select our younger players and looked at the youth as the future and development of 7s within Botswana. Preparations for the tournament have gone well and I know that the players are looking forward to the opportunity to showcase themselves in the International arena.”

The tournament is also used to build capacity with the ten best African referees – outside of South Africa – including two women gathered in a preparation camp under the guidance of Salem Attalah, former French top 14 referee and Alhambra Nievas, international referee and newly appointed referee development manager for World Rugby.

Watch Live on YouTube and on Kwese Free Sports:

Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUCs3bS6-DI

Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8kNBuJCy8E

Program of the tournament – Saturday 13 October, Sunday 14 October 2018 :

Pool APool BPool CPool D
KenyaUgandaZimbabweMadagascar
MoroccoSenegalTunisiaZambia
BotswanaGhanaMauritiusNamibia
MatchPoolsTeamsDurationKO Time
M 1A1 vs A3Kenya vs Botswana22 mn11 : 00
M 2B1 vs B3Uganda vs Ghana22 mn11 : 22
M 3C1 vs C3Zimbabwe vs Mauritius22 mn11 : 44
M 4D1 vs D3Madagascar vs Namibia22 mn12 : 06
Break 122 mn12 : 28
M 5A2 vs A3Morocco vs Botswana22 mn12 : 50
M 6B2 vs B3Senegal vs Ghana22 mn13 : 12
M 7C2 vs C3Tunisia vs Mauritius22 mn13 : 34
M 8D2 vs D3Zambia vs Namibia22 mn13 : 56
Break 222 mn14 : 18
M 9A1 vs A2Kenya vs Morocco22 mn14 : 40
M10B1 vs B2Uganda vs Senegal22 mn15 : 02
M11C1 vs C2Zimbabwe vs Tunisia22 mn15 : 24
M12D1 vs D2Madagascar vs Zambia22 mn15 : 46
End of the 1st day16 : 08

– At the end of the pool stage of the first day, we establish a ranking in each pool:

– The 2 first of each pool are qualified for the ¼ finals (Plate and Cup)

– The 4 teams ranked 3rd continue the tournament for the Bowl (Rank 9 to 12).

Quarter finals (Plate – Cup)

MatchDrawDurationKO Time
M 13¼ finals   1st pool A      vs      2nd pool D22 mn10 : 00
M 14   1st pool B      vs      2nd pool C10 : 22
M 15  1st pool C      vs      2nd  pool B10 : 44
M 16  1st pool D      vs      2nd  pool A11 : 08

Bowl semi finals

MatchEquipesDurationKO Time
M 173rd pool A  vs  3rd pool D22 mn11 : 30
M 183rd pool B  vs  3rd pool C22 mn11 : 52

Plate semi finals

MatchTeamsDurationKO Time
M 19Loser M 13  vs  Loser M 1622 mn12 : 14
M 20Loser M 14  vs  Loser M 1522 mn12 : 36

Cup semi finals

MatchTeamsDurationKO Time
M 21Winner M 13  vs  Winner M 1622 mn12 : 58
M 22Winner M 14  vs  Winner M 1522 mn13 : 20
Break22 mn13 : 42

Ranking and Bowl Final (9th to 12th)

MatchTeamsDurationKO Time
M 2311th-12thLoser M 17  vs  Loser M 1822 mn14 : 02
M 24Final BowlWinner M 17  vs  Winner M 1822 mn14 : 24

Ranking and Plate final (5th to 8 th)

MatchTeamsDurationKO Time
M 257th – 8thLoser M 19  vs  Loser M 2022 mn14 : 46
M 26Final PlateWinner M 19  vs  Winner M 2022 mn15 : 08

Bronze final and  Cup  final (1st to 4th)

MatchTeamsDurationKO Time
M 273rd – 4thLoser M 21  vs  Loser 2222 mn15 : 30
M 28Final CupVainqueur M 21  vs  Vainqueur M2222 mn15 : 52
End of tournament16 : 14