Western Province vs Rwanda
Universities Select vs Hamilton Raiders
Chairman’s Select vs Zambia
Uganda Cranes vs Uganda Kobs
Main cup Quarters
Kenya Shujaa vs Grenoble
SA 7’s EPD vs Bristol Barracudas
Spain vs Portugal
Kenya Morans vs Samurai
Western Province, which is a South African side by the way, saw off Rwanda 48-0, the Universities select impressively getting past the Hamilton Raiders 21-14, with the Chairman’s select handing out a 31-10 beating to Zambia who had reiterated the fact that they had not come as tourists, well it did look like they did. The last Bowl quarter final saw the two Ugandan sides, Cranes and Kobs in a heated encounter that saw Uganda Cranes’ Bishop Onen suspended from rugby for four weeks following a dangerous tackle, though the player did not receive any disciplinary action during the game, the Cranes won this one 21-14.
The Main Cup Quarter finals saw the Shujaa breeze past Grenoble 33-7, with the SA 7’s Elite Programme Development (what a mouthful for a name) edging past the Baracudas 22-12, the pick of the lot from the Quarter finals had to be the showdown between Spain and Portugal, Spain barely taking that one 5-0 in a thrilling encounter. The Last Quarter final saw Kenya’s Morans literally bamboozle past the Samurai 24-5 to book the last Semi final berth.
By the end of the Quarter finals the dream Morans vs Shujaa final was still on…the Universities had dropped to the Shield with the Chairman’s select battling it out for the Bowl, here are the Semi Final pairings.
Shield Semis
Rwanda v Universities
Zambia v UG Kobs
Bowl Semis
Western Province v Hamilton Raiders
Chairman’s v Uganda
Plate Semis
Grenoble v Bristol
Portugal v Samurai
Main Cup Semi Final
Shujaa v SA 7s EPD
Spain v Morans
In the Shield, Kenya’s Universities side saw off Rwanda 14-0, setting up a final against Zambia who edged out the Ugandan Kobs 14-7 at the last minute.
In the Bowl, Western Province got past the Hamilton Raiders to set up a Final berth against the Chairman’s select who beat the Cranes 17-7.
The Plate Competition saw Grenoble beat the Bristol Baracudas 36-12, with the Samurai walloping Portugal 31-0. To set up a mouth watering final..
Action moved to the Main Cup tourney, first up was The Shujaa taking on the SA 7s EPD. It was one way traffic in the first half, despite the Shujaas’ best efforts, the South Africans taking a 22-0 lead into the break. The second half started better for the Shujaa, creating several chances with Biko Adema crossing the line and converting to narrow the gap to 15 points at 22-7 with little over 4 minutes to play. Shujaa would push for the valuable scores but would fall short, SA managing to make the final score to finish the game at 29-7. With that hopes of the Morans, Shujaa final faded away, the next semi saw Morans come up against Spain.
Things here started well for the Morans, taking a 7-0 lead into the break courtesy of a Ombachi try, the Spanish would try to level the score but tries from Ombachi and Sikuta saw the Morans book a final spot with a 17-0 score line.
Thus the Final round of games were as so :
Shield Final:
Universities Select vs Zambia
Bowl Final:
Chairman’s select vs Western Province
Plate Final:
Grenoble vs Samurai
3rd Place Play-Off
Shujaa vs Spain
Main Cup Final:
Morans vs SA 7s EPD
In what is an organizer’s dream final round, all of the host Country’s teams were battling it out in the various categories finals. The only other Country with more than one side in the final round was South Africa with the EPDs and Western Province. First up was the Universities side in the Shield Final, it was the second time that the Zambians were facing Kenyan opposition, having fallen 31-0 to the Chairman’s select side on Day 1. This time the Zambians were out to proof that they were no tourists, starting this match in blistering form, taking a 14-0 lead into the half. Though the students did mount a come back of sorts Zambia took the Shield 21-5.
In the Bowl, the Chairman’s Select were out to put back the cheers and smiles on the Kenyan fans when the took on Western Province. The South African side had looked good on Day 3, putting 48 past Rwanda and impressively seeing off the Hamilton Raiders 17-7. The Chairman’s men, had had a roller coaster ride over the two days, it was now time to steady this ship. The S.A outfit were first on the score board and took a 19-0 lead into the half, the Chairman’s men pulled one back through Oscar Ayodi but the S.A side confirmed that the Bowl title would travel down south making it 26-5 before Billy scored a consolation to see the score board read 26-10 at the hooter.
In the Plate, the only category with no Kenyan interest, A shaky Samurai side faced Grenoble. Samurai who I had high hopes for were looking to end the tournament on a high, the game didn’t start as they had hoped with Grenoble taking an early 7-0 lead. This was the wake up call Samurai had been waiting for as they stormed to a 19-7 lead into the break. They would stretch that lead to 26-7 before Grenoble hinted at a comeback with a converted try to make it 26-14. Unfortunately it was not to be for Grenoble as the final whistle went with Samurai leading 40-14.
It was the first time there was a third place play off at the Safari sevens in line with most IRB legs, and this was to be played between the Shujaa and Spain. Both sides coming off heart breaks in the Main Cup semis and were looking to erase these memories. Shujaa were faster off the blocks, Biko Adema making it 7-0, they would stretch this lead to 14-0 into the half. Spain would narrow that gap to 7 points before Shujaa sealed the win and third place at 21-7.
Morans Captain Andrew Amonde holds aloft the 3rd place trophy. |
This paved way for the big one, the grand finale..Morans taking on the South Africa Sevens Elite Programme Development. At the end of Day 1 I had asked a few rugby brains that I respect who their predicted finalists were, most mentioned Shujaa and Samurai so this was a surprise final to most.
The South Africans were first on the score board, leading 7-0, the Morans though would take the lead going into the break at 7-10. The South African’s would regain that lead at 14-10, before Ombachi made a try saving tackle before setting up Andrew Amonde for what seemed to be the game winning try at 14-17. The Elite Development side would however have the last laugh via a Justin Geguld’s try to break the Kenyan’s hearts, final score 21-17.
The 2012 Safaricom Safari 7’s Champions SA 7s EPD |
With that, the S.A side took the Safari Sevens title, meaning the Kenyans fail to win the Main title for a second consecutive year. But if there was a way to lose it, it was this one. The two top Kenyan teams had put in a great show over the two days. The structure of play over the two days was of another calibre all together, especially on the defensive side..it was truely a refreshing sight to see. At the end of the tournament I still could not separate the two sides, though the Shujaa were more of Sleak players, the brains if you like, with the Morans the Muscle. So I guess in this case Muscle won over Brain…
On the overall it’s hard to single out a player but I would not end this post without mentioning one Dennis Ombachi…Good luck to the team management as they pick 12 from these 24 great players.
The Morans and the Shujaas… |
I think an improvement on the tournament would be first to have prize money for the winners, so that we can attract better sides and improve the quality of the rugby on display. Other than that it was an incredible 3 days of sevens rugby, as you will all bare me witness…It only Happens Once a year!!
Finally on the Sevens, a big shout to the Organising committee, the Volunteers for a great job done over the last few weeks culminating in the Festival that you all enjoyed this past weekend…It was a pleasure pretending to work along side you all while what I was really having was mad fun…hehe!!
Mary Otieno,
Mary Musieka,
Doreen Remour (Captain),
Irene Otieno,
Rachel Odhiambo,
Philadelphia Olando,
Stacy Awuor,
Linda Nandwa,
Catherine Abila,
Celestine Masinde,
Janet Owuor.
Non travelling reserves:
Camyline Awour,
Adelaide Nasambu,
Robina Wambui.
Officials:
Kevin Wambua (coach),
Enos Otieno (assistant coach),
Doris Mwanzia (team manager),
Ben Mahinda (physiotherapist).
Looking forward to the coming Rugby calendar, next up the Homeboyz 10 a side One Night Stand, at the weekend as we keep Rugby at the Nyayo Stadium. This year’s edition kicks off at 9 am so I guess it should be renamed to the One Day Stand…I ron know, but this time round a host of top flight teams are set to grace the tournament as they make the shift to 15’s rugby.