Just as the action and excitement from the first leg of the 2022 National sevens series, it is time for the second leg, the 55th Christie 7s. If the bar set by Kabeberi 7s is anything to go by, this weekend should be an all out extravaganza!
Pool A
Kabeberi sevens winners KCB will start their quest for back to back titles in Pool A, where they face Nakuru RFC, hosts Kenya Harlequins and the JumiaPay Pirates (South Coast Pirates).
A straight forward looking pool for the Lions, who should easily breeze through this one, with their sternest opposition expected to come from hosts Quins and maybe the pirates who will be the surprise package in this pool. The young Nakuru RFC side showed some sparks of brilliance last weekend, especially against Mwamba in the Cup quarter but came hard done by their inexperience.
Quins played an abrasive brand of sevens rugby and will look to the same to see them through this pool, they would be my pick for progression from this pool alongside KCB.
Pool B
The people’s champions from the Kabeberi 7s, Strathmore Leos will come up against comrades Daystar Falcons and Blak Blad alongside Impala RFC.
The Leos played a very exciting brand of rugby last weekend, free flowing, uninhibited yet anchored to a set game plan, it reminded me of the pre-Mike Friday Kenya 7s. They came to within a whisker of winning the Kabeberi 7s title against a well oiled KCB side. They are odd on favourites to top this pool and meet the second placed team in Pool A.
It however won’t be an easy walk in the park as the Leos come up against their peers, who will definitely be out to prove a point. Daystar were the surprise package from last weekend backed by their blistering pace of play and will be looking to maintain their top flight status going into the third leg. Blad vs Strath will always be a cracker! Whoever wins the Blad v Daystar match will most probably progress alongside Strathmore.
The limping Impala will be out to make up for their slow start last weekend, while I don’t see how they will make it out of this pool, they couldn’t have asked for more favourable pairings.
Pool C
Every sevens season, there are those two teams that always draw each other, early indications point to Kabras and MMUST, who find themselves in Pool C, alongside bronze winners in Kabeberi, Menengai Oilers and Nondies. Yes, this is also my pick for pool of death!
The Oilers failed to fire on all cylinders at Kabeberi, even though they finished third, you could see that they were missing that trade mark spark. Maybe they are bearing the brunt of missing all those players to the Simbas. They still are my favourites to top this pool and if they can find that spark, then they should challenge KCB and Strathmore for the circuit title.
Kabras and MMUST seemed to struggle to adapt to sevens rugby, especially the former who lost to MMUST on day one. If the Kenya Cup & Enterprise Cup champions can wrap their minds around the space available in sevens then they’ll give MMUST and indeed the rest of the teams in this pool a run for their money. As it stands though my bet would be on MMUST and Oilers progressing from this pool.
Nondies will probably find the going tough in what promises to be a physically demanding pool, seeing the injuries they accumulated at Kabeberi.
Pool D
Homeboyz headline this pool, where they’ll square it out against Mwamba, Western Bulls and Kabeberi 7s Div II winners, Catholic Monks.
The DJs and Kulabu suffered the same problem at Kabeberi, they were largely disjointed and struggled to get into any sort of rhythm, Homeboyz showed some glimpse when they played Quins on day one, as did Mwamba in the second half against Nakuru, other than that there was nothing much to write home about.
These two remain favourites to make it out of this pool, the only question will be who tops, if the two can get their rhythms going, they will definitely close that gap between them and the current top two sides. The Monks will be looking to avoid the chop and will probably see Western Bulls as a winnable match, it will be the same case of the Bulls, expect this one to be a proper scrap!
In the women’s category, Nakuru will be going for the double when they face Yamanashi Impala and Ruck It in Pool A, Mwamba will be looking to make amends for that narrow 17-15 loss to Nakuru in the Kabeberi final. They start their charge against Northern Suburbs and Western Spears in Pool B. I expect a similar finalist list with maybe the Yamanashi Impala spoiling the party.
The battle for promotion in the second division is expected to be headlined by Makueni, who narrowly lost 12-7 to CUEA in the promotion match, Makueni’s main challengers should be Machine and Suburbs who were relegated from Div I last weekend, alongside AP, USIU, Shamas, MKU Nairobi and Zetech.
The action outside the pitch is also expected to be just as enthralling, with multiple chances for fans to win great prizes courtesy of Betsafe and as always the sherehe courtesy of Tusker! Grab your tickets here and see you at the stands – https://www.kenyabuzz.com/events/event/christie-7-s
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KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
