The 2022 Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens kicked off at sunrise today morning at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala City of Uganda and ran through the day until sunset. The tournament is being played in a format which began with a seeding round followed by a pool stage in trophy and championship levels.
Defending champions and top seed Kenya got the day underway with a rather surprisingly low 19-00 victory over Senegal before hosts Uganda put Burundi to the sword by 71-00. Here is how the rest of the teams performed:
Round One (Seeding) Results:
- Kenya 19-00 Senegal
- Uganda 71-00 Burundi
- Zimbabwe 12-14 Burkina Faso
- Madagascar 52-00 Botswana
- Namibia 19-10 Ghana
- Zambia 33-07 Cameroun
- Tunisia 14-07 Mauritius
Zimbabwe sneaked into the championship round after that shock loss to Burkina Faso and found themselves in Pool A alongside Kenya, Madagascar and Namibia. The other championship pool was B with Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Tunisia.
Pools C and D comprise three teams each playing for the trophy and placement matches.
Pools:
- Pool A: Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Zimbabwe.
- Pool B: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Tunisia.
- Pool C: Mauritius, Cameroun, Botswana.
- Pool D: Ghana, Senegal, Burundi.
After a two-hour break, the second round began with Mauritius beating Botswana by 26-07 before Kenya and Zimbabwe delivered the most cracking match of the day in a tight 24-19 result.
Round Two Results:
- Mauritius 26-07 Botswana
- Ghana 47-00 Burundi
- Madagascar 41-00 Namibia
- Kenya 24-19 Zimbabwe
- Burkina Faso 10-28 Zambia
- Uganda 29-00 Tunisia
In the final round of the day, Kenya and Uganda confirmed their cup semifinal slots with wins over Namibia and Zambia respectively but will seal their position atop the pools on day two, although there is no doubt they will achieve that objective.
Round Three Results:
- Cameroun 15-17 Botswana
- Senegal – Burundi
- Madagascar 00-40 Zimbabwe
- Kenya 33-07 Namibia
- Burkina Faso 07-12 Tunisia
- Uganda 40-07 Zambia
Action will resume on Sunday morning in Day Two with teams playing for final rankings, tickets to the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and most importantly, the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens trophy.