2011 Safari Sevens

Last updated
2011 Safari Sevens
Host nation Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya
Date4–6 November 2011
Cup
ChampionFlag of Samoa.svg  Samoa
Runner-up Samurai Sevens
Plate
Winner Auckland Vikings
Runner-upFlag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
Bowl
WinnerTackling Cancer Tigers
Runner-upBristol University Select
Shield
WinnerFlag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
Runner-upFlag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda
2010
2012

The 2011 Safari Sevens were the 16th annual edition of the Safari Sevens.

Contents

Tournament administration

Venue

After 15 years at the RFUEA Ground and growing attendances annually, the Kenya Rugby Football Union decided to take the tournament to the Nyayo National Stadium for the first time. Nyayo is a football and athletics stadium built in 1983 to host the 1987 All-Africa Games and has a capacity of 30,000; the 2010 African Athletics Championships were also held here. It is the headquarters for the Kenya Football Federation and Athletics Kenya. The rationale for the move was to allow room for more spectators as part of the KRU's bid to have the tournament included in the IRB Sevens World Series by 2015; it was reported [1] that IRB observers were in the country to monitor the event.

There were some worries prior to the event about the move, the area is notorious for robbers who attack motorists and pedestrians and at least one murder has been recorded there two years ago. The Police put in place a security plan including road closures to ensure the tournament passed without incident. Parts of Langata Road and Aerodrome Road were closed to motorists apart from those bearing VIP stickers; parking and shuttle busses were also put in place for the fans between the stadium and Highway Secondary School, All Saints Primary School and Kenya Railways Sports Club. [1] Security fears were vindicated after a woman was raped leaving the tournament. [2] Other commentators have said that the area is no more dangerous than the surroundings of the RFUEA Ground and that the attack was partially a result of bad luck or poor judgement to decide to walk home rather than take a taxi or bus.

Dates

For the first time the tournament was held in early November, rather than the traditional June, in order to avoid clashes with other world class rugby events so that more prestigious teams could send sides to participate and thus further raise the prominence of the event in the world rugby calendar. The Rugby World Cup 2011 ended in October and the IRB Sevens World Series began two weeks later in late November. The hope is that the Safari Sevens will become a warm-up event to (and possibly even an integral part of) future IRB Sevens World Series. [3]

Ticketing

Standard tickets cost KSh.300/= (Friday) or KSh.400/= (Saturday and Sunday) per day (KSh.1,000/= for all three days - equal to £6.39  stg., 7,43 or US$10.25). VIP tickets were KSh.1,000/= (Friday) or KSh.2,000/= (Saturday and Sunday) per day, KSh.4,000/= for all three days - equal to £25.58 stg., €29,73 or US$41.00). [3]

Match officials

A strong panel of match officials blending experienced regulars from previous editions of the Safaricom Sevens with up and coming match officials from the region and overseas referees with international experience. Hong Kong's Lee Wing Yi Gabriel became the first top female referee to officiate at the Safari Sevens (though Kenya's own Sarah Agola, who also officiated, was a veteran of six tournaments having made her officiating debut at the 2005 tournament). [4]

The 2011 tournament match officials

NameHome UnionExperience

Men's tournament

Participating teams

Hosts Kenya, Uganda and Bristol University from the United Kingdom are the only sides to have played in this annual event since its inception in 1996. [5]

The teams were as follows. [6]

Pool A

TeamNotes
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Tournament hosts and defending champions, have finished in the top ten every season of the IRB Sevens World Series since 2007–2008. Played for the first time under their new coach Mitch Ocholla in this tournament.
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda Featured at every Safari Sevens since its inception, putting in creditable performances. They have a great rivalry with hosts Kenya in both the sevens and fifteens.
  Universitaire de Grenoble An invitation team made up of players from the Université de Grenoble and FC Grenoble rugby teams. [7] Semi-finalists last year, they lost 0–22 to the Emerging Springboks.

Pool B

TeamNotes
  Auckland Vikings The representative team of Auckland, the 2011 New Zealand Provincial Sevens champions
 Bristol University SelectAn invitation team based around Bristol University RFC players but also features others from the Bristol region, including Clifton RFC and the professional outfit Bristol. Have played in every Safari Sevens tournament since 1996.
Flag of South Africa.svg  Emerging Springboks The Emerging Springboks are a national representative side of players who have never won a full South African cap. They made their debut at the Safari Sevens in 2003 (losing to Kenya in the final). They lost to Kenya again in 2004 before winning in 2006 and 2007 (beating Zimbabwe both times).
  Mwamba RFC Kenya National Sevens Circuit Champions 2011.

Pool C

TeamNotes
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Goshawks The Under 21 National 7-a-side rugby team of Zimbabwe
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series champions included 2010 IRB Sevens World Player of the Year Mikaele Pesamino (fourth in the all-time leading try scorers on the IRB Sevens World Series chart) in their selection.
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Competed in several legs of the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series, they entered the Safari Sevens to hone their skills in the short version of the game.
 Tackling Cancer Tigers [8] A team of amateur American rugby sevens all-stars, led by coach James Walker from Belmont Shore [9] (listed as Belmont Shore RFC in some media). A former Kenya Sevens international, Anthony Ongoro, joined them for this, their first trip to Nairobi.

Pool D

TeamNotes
  Royal Welsh WarriorsA team drawn from soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Royal Welsh Regiment, a recently restructured regiment of the British Army
  Samurai Sevens professional invitation side sponsored by Samurai Sportswear, was founded in 1996 by Terry Sands for the 25th Amsterdam Sevens.
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe Frequent entrants of the competition, they have never won the title but have got to the main cup final on three occasions, 1996, 2006 and 2007.

Teams unable to attend

Teams slated to attend but later withdrew included: [3]

TeamNotes
  British Army rugby sevens team Replaced by the Royal Welsh Warriors
  False Bay RFC False Bay, South Africa
 Les BleusLes Bleus Sevens is a non-profit organisation entirely independent of the FFR who also sponsor their own 7-a-side rugby team, Les Bleus, many of whom have gone on to play for the French National sevens side. see their website
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia Cited security issues rather than a lack of funding for their decision to miss the tournament; Kenyan security forces had been engaged for three weeks in a military offensive inside neighboring Somalia after a series of terror attacks on Kenyan tourism targets. Mwamba RFC filled their berth.

Pool stages

Results form the pool stages. [10]

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament. Spain and Samoa tied on points and their head to head result; Samoa won Pool C by virtue of the fact they scored a total of 140 points to Spain's 76.

Pool D

Knockout stage

Results from the knockout stage. [11] [12]


Cup

Cup Quarter-finals Cup Semi-finals Final
      
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 12
 Auckland Vikings 7
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 12
  Samurai Sevens 29
  Samurai Sevens 17
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 0
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 31
  Samurai Sevens 12
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 34
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 5
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 19
Flag of South Africa.svg  Emerging Springboks 10
Flag of South Africa.svg  Emerging Springboks 24
  Universitaire de Grenoble 14

Plate

Plate Semi-final Plate Final
      
1  Auckland Vikings19
4 Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 14
 Auckland Vikings29
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 12
3 Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 19
2   Universitaire de Grenoble 14

Bowl

Bowl Quarter-finals Bowl Semi-finals Bowl Final
      
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 0
 Bristol University Select19
 Bristol University Select26
  Royal Welsh 7
  Royal Welsh 7
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Goshawks 5
 Bristol University Select 14
  Tiger Rugby 17
  Tiger Rugby 52
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 0
  Tiger Rugby 28
  Mwamba RFC 7
  Mwamba RFC 19
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 5

Shield

Shield Semi-final Shield Final
      
1 Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 12
4 Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 28
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 31
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 0
3 Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 21
2 Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Goshawks 5

Women's Tournament Result

Round-robin stage

Knockout stage

Women's Cup Final
   
1 Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 7
2 Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 5

Doreen Remour touched down for Kenya, which was converted by Irene Awino.

Men's Veteran Results

Pool stage

Pool 'A'

Pool 'B'

Knockout stage

Veteran's Semi-final Veteran's Final
      
1 Quins Vets 44
4 Pwani (Coast) 0
Quins Vets 12
Nondies Vets 0
3 Rogue Buffaloes 0
2 Nondies Vets 15

Boys

Provinces of Kenya
1. Central
2. Coast
3. Eastern
4. Nairobi
5. North Eastern
6. Nyanza
7. Rift Valley
8. Western Kenya Provinces numbered.svg
Provinces of Kenya
1. Central
2. Coast
3. Eastern
4. Nairobi
5. North Eastern
6. Nyanza
7. Rift Valley
8. Western

[12] [13] [14] [15]

Pools

Pool 'A'

Tanzania made history by putting together a national representative under-19 side for the event. [16] Zimbabwe also sent a national representative side as they have done to several previous Safari Sevens tournaments. Uganda sent their school national champions Hana Mixed School. [17] [18]

All eight of the Kenya provinces were represented in the tournament.

Pool 'B'

Knockout stage

Boy's Cup

Boy's Semi-final Boy's Final
      
1 Nyanza 0
4 Western22
Western 15
Hana Mixed School (Uganda)19
3 Hana Mixed School (Uganda)20
2 Nairobi 0

Boy's Plate

Boy's Plate-final
   
1 Nyanza19
2 Nairobi 14

Boy's Bowl

Boy's Bowl-final
   
1 Rift Valley 10
2 Zimbabwe15

Boy's Shield

Boy's Shield-final
   
1 Eastern 5
2 Central25

Girls

Group stage

Pool 'A'

Pool 'B'

Knockout stage

Girl's Cup

Girl's Semi-final Girl's Final
      
1  
4  
Butere
Mukumu
3  
2  

Girl's Plate

Girl's Plate-final
   
1  
2  

Girl's Bowl

Girl's Bowl-final
   
1  
2  

Girl's Shield

Girl's Shield-final
   
1  
2  

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moi International Sports Centre</span> Football stadium

The Moi International Sports Centre is a multi-purpose stadium in Kasarani, Kenya. It was built in 1987 for the All-Africa Games held in Nairobi. The facilities include a 60,000-seat stadium with a running track and a pitch used for football and rugby union, a competition size swimming pool, an indoor arena and a 108-bed capacity hotel. Located at 1,612 metres above sea level, it is slightly above 1 mile in altitude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubai Sevens</span>

The Dubai 7s is an annual rugby sevens and social event held at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, UAE. Founded in 1970, the event is the longest running sports event in the Middle East.

Safaricom PLC is a listed Kenyan mobile network operator headquartered at Safaricom House in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya, and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region. The company offers mobile telephony, mobile money transfer, consumer electronics, ecommerce, cloud computing, data, music streaming, and fibre optic services. It is most renowned as the home of M-PESA, a mobile banking SMS-based service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safari Sevens</span> Annual rugby sevens tournament

The Safari Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Nairobi, Kenya. The Safari Sevens is open to international representative sides, professional and amateur clubs, invitational teams, university and school teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya national rugby union team</span>

The Kenya national rugby union team, commonly known as the Simbas, is the country's national team managed by the Kenya Rugby Union. The team plays in red, green, and black jerseys with black or white shorts. The Simbas represent Kenya in the Africa Cup and various other tournaments across the continent. They currently rank 34 in the World Rugby Rankings and fourth in Africa. Kenya is yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Kenya</span>

Rugby union in Kenya is a popular sport, in particular due to the success of the Kenya national rugby sevens team in the rugby sevens format, and tournaments such as the Safari Sevens, which has been growing yearly, and now includes numerous international teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonga national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in all but one of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments.

The Portugal national rugby sevens team played for the first time in 1992, at the Catania Sevens, World Cup 1993 European Qualifier. The team plays in competitions such as the World Sevens Series, the European Sevens Grand Prix Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Portugal has a record of eight European titles—in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011—although Portugal has not made the semifinals since 2012. Pedro Leal and Gonçalo Foro are two notable sevens players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgon Cup</span>

The Elgon Cup is contested between the rugby union teams of Kenya and Uganda. The men's and women's teams of these countries each compete annually for their respective cups on a Home-and-Away basis. The competition and the cups are named after Mount Elgon, a mountain on the border of the two countries.

Rugby union in Tanzania is a minor but growing sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Africa rugby union team</span> Rugby team

Established in 1950, the East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in the region. The team has played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides and it conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RFUEA Ground</span> Rugby union stadium in Kenya

The RFUEA Ground is a rugby union stadium located on the Ngong Road in Nairobi, Kenya. It was purpose built to be the home of the national team and to serve as the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union of Kenya (RFUK).[a] Coincidentally, the RFUEA ground has another parallel with Twickenham Stadium in the United Kingdom in that it also serves as the home ground for the Kenya Harlequin Football Club, just as their sister club the London Harlequins once played at Twickenham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby Football Union of East Africa</span> Umbrella group of East African football organizations

The Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) is an umbrella union for the Kenya Rugby Football Union, Tanzania Rugby Football Union and Uganda Rugby Football Union. It owes its existence to the fact that, prior to independence, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were either a protectorate or mandate of the British Empire. It now has little to do with the direct administration of the modern game but it continues to exist in order to promote and support the game in the three countries, to facilitate club competition between the three unions and to administer the RFUEA Ground and the East Africa rugby union team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamburi Rugby Super Series</span>

The Bamburi Super Series was an East African Rugby union competition with eight teams in total, five teams from Kenya two from Uganda and one from Tanzania (Twigas) that is currently defunct. It is closely based on the Super Rugby competition in the southern hemisphere. Games take place at the RFUEA Ground in Nairobi (Kenya), Friedkin Recreation Centre in Arusha (Tanzania) and the Kyadondo Grounds, Kampala (Uganda). Rhinos have won the most titles with four wins, and are the only team to have defended a title when they beat the Cheetahs 25–5 in the 2010 final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homeboyz RFC</span> African rugby club in Nairobi, Kenya

Homeboyz Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Nairobi, Kenya, that competes in the Kenya Cup, Eric Shirley Shield, Enterprise Cup and Mwamba Cup. Formed in 2009, Homeboyz also has a women's team that competes in the Kenya Rugby Football Union women's league every year. Both the men's and women's teams also compete in the Kenya National Sevens Circuit that happens annually. Their main home ground is Jamhuri Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippines national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Philippines national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was their first appearance in an IRB Sevens World Series. They were 1 of 4 Asian teams that qualified through regional tournaments to be included in the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens, it is also a qualifying tournament for inclusion in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series. After the Philippines won third place against South Korea in the 2012 Singapore Sevens Series, they gained qualification to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow. The Philippines finished third at the 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, and qualified to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens World Series qualifier. At the tournament, the team defeated Zimbabwe and advanced to quarter-finals, where they lost to Asian rival Hong Kong.

The 2012 Safari Sevens are the 17th annual edition of the Safari Sevens.

The 2005 Dubai Sevens was an international rugby sevens tournament that took place at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground on 1 and 2 December 2005. It was the 18th edition of the Dubai Sevens and was the first tournament of the 2005–06 World Sevens Series. Sixteen teams competed in the tournament and was separated into four groups of four with the top two teams from each group qualifying to the cup tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kisumu RFC</span> Kenyan rugby union football team

Kisumu Rugby Football Club is a Kenyan rugby union club based in Kisumu. Also known as Lakeside RFC, for the 2015–16 season the club competes in the Nationwide League.

Philip Wokorach is a Ugandan rugby union player who plays as a utility back for AS Bédarrides as well as playing sevens for Racing 92. He also runs the PW15 Foundation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Capital Sports » Kenya in easy Safaricom 7s pool". Capitalfm.co.ke. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  2. "The Standard | Woman raped coming from 'Sevens'". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sevens". Safaricom. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  4. "Leading female referee to officiate at the Safaricom Sevens". Safarisevens.com. 2011-10-28. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  5. "rugby: Uganda name youthful squad for Safaricom Sevens". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  6. "Safaricom 7s Teams". Safaricom.co.ke. Archived from the original on 2012-01-22. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  7. "FC Grenoble Rugby | Ils sont du voyage au Kenya - Ils sont du voyage au Kenya Huit Rouge&bleu sont retenus dans l'Êquipe Universitaire de Grenoble... | Kenya, Grenoble, Rugby, Adrien, Helmer". Fcgrugby.com. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  8. "Tough Draw for Tigers in Nairobi". Rugbymag.com. 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  9. door tigerrugbytube's channel. "Kanaal van tigerrugbytube". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  10. "l Kenya headline Pool A as Safaricom Sevens draw released". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  11. "Fixtures". Safaricom.co.ke. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  12. 1 2 "Safaricom Sevens: Kenya lead the way to quarters". Facebook. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  13. "rugby: Ayange's brace gives Kenya's perfect start in Safari 7s". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  14. "rugby: Safari Sevens kick off, with Uganda dominating schools event". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  15. "Uganda: Rugby Cranes Safari Sevens Final". allAfrica.com. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  16. "Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Rugby Players Appreciate Safari Sevens Championship". allAfrica.com. 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  17. "Zimbabwe Name Schools Side For Junior Safari Sevens". Zimbabwerugby.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  18. "Schools Kick Off Safari Sevens". Zimbabwerugby.com. 2007-06-08. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-01-13.

1°18′15.1″S36°49′28.1″E / 1.304194°S 36.824472°E / -1.304194; 36.824472