Rugby : Kenya lift Nile Sevens rugby title in Jinja, Uganda

By Ben Ahenda

The Kenya Sevens Academy are the Uganda Nile Sevens tournament champions.

The Kenyan team, which comprises Under-19 players, won the tournament hosted at Dam Waters Rugby Grounds in Jinja, Uganda, last Friday after thrashing The Rams 12-0 in the final.

The National Under 19 Sevens Team defeated Mbale Elephants 19-5 in the quarters before edging Stallions 22-5 in the semi-finals to advance.

The team used the event to shape up for next month’s  World Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

Team coach Nick Raballa told FeverPitch that the competition had given his players good exposure.

“The Nile Sevens tournament was a good outing which exposed the playing unit to a serious competition  besides enabling us to gauge the strength and weaknesses of our players,” he said.

The event attracted 12 teams, which were divided into three pools with Pool ‘A’ having Kenya Under 19 side, Uganda Heathens, Makerere Impis, and Walakuba of Jinja.

32 primary schools

Pool ‘B’ had Uganda Kobs, Buffaloes, Mbale Elephants and Rams, while in Pool ‘C’ were The Rwanda National Team, Pirates, Stallion and Jinja Hippos.

Thirty-two primary and secondary schools also took part in the one-day competition.

Kenya Rugby Union Chairman Mwangi Muthee, who paid a glowing tribute to the team, urged the team to maintain their focus as they get ready for the Youth Olympics.

“The team must get focused and maintain the same spirit ahead of the World Youth Games for us to win medals at the global competition,” Muthee said.

The tournament director Edward Ochieng’ said the event was launched to develop rugby skills for players in Uganda besides keeping rugby fans entertained.

“Despite the fact that we have evolved from fun rugby technically, we still maintain the fun element to keep rugby fans constantly rewarded and entertained through our partners and sponsors,” said Ochieng’.