Kenya brushed aside a determined Zimbabwean team 21-17 by managing to win at the death, and take the African Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifier spot held over the weekend at the Barnard Stadium, in Kempton Park, Johannesburg.
The Kenyan Shujaa join their African powerhouse South Africa as the continent’s two representatives in Sevens at the Rio Olympics in 2016. They also join the newly qualified Australians who had just won earlier in the day at the Oceania Olympic Qualifier.
The Collins Injera led side, filled with the likes of Willy Ambaka and Dennis Ombachi, were a class above the rest from the outset of the second days play, crushing Madagascar in the quarterfinal 41-0 to book their spot in the semi finals against Tunisia.
That win for Kenya continued their dominance against the Northern African sides when they walloped Tunisia 42-12 in the semis, to book their spot in the final.
On the opposing side of the tournament, the Zimbabwe Cheetahs opened their second day with a 31-10 victory over the Fabien Juries coached Nigerian team and then the Cheetahs took apart the ‘giant killers’ of Morocco. They won convincingly 26-0 in the semis, although to their credit the North African side had earlier made an honest team out of the Namibian men in their quarter final 22-15–the Namibian team coached by former Springbok and Kenya assistant coach Vyo Zangqa.
So the anticipated final between the leading African Sevens teams had come to fruition. In that match, the Kenyans took the early lead in the final with a try to skipper Andrew Amonde after Willy Ambaka set him up perfectly and young Eden Agero converted that to lead 7-0 early. Zimbabwe responded with an unconverted try themselves and built on that momentum with a second try to go to the break leading 7-12.
Kenya’s vice-captain took the Shujaa to the lead with a converted try but the Cheetahs made them pay for some indecision, as they scored from an intercept to take a small lead 14-17 with only minutes to go. It seemed like an upset was on the cards until the ”Ghost Worker” Dennis Ombachi picked up the ball from the restart, to sprint from the leftfield all the way downtown for the solo-effort winner that saw Kenya take the win 21-17 at the very death. Superb sevens rugby!
Kenya are now a part of the Olympic Games, sealing their nations place in the Summer Games to be hosted by Rio de Janiero, in August 2016.
It was evident from the start that the Shujaa would likely take this Qualifier, but who would have thought that it would go down to the wire. That is a good sign for African Rugby that the gaps are closing between many sides. The Morocco team beating the Namibians was a good sign that this is the ‘tip of the iceberg’ from that side and the best is yet to come as all teams look forward to the next 2020 Olympic Qualifier.
We will know then what development these teams will go through over this next four year cycle, but their is also plenty to play for at the next Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament [to be held in the United States in 2018] as well as the World Sevens Series. And while Kenya are a certainty now, they must be worried that all these sides will be back again ‘for revenge’.
The two Northern African teams Morocco and Tunisia should be congratulated too for reaching the Cup semis and taking their game to the next level, in a region dominated by football and by the bigger brother, South Africa Blitz Boks.
Africa Sevens Results:
Cup Quarter Finals:
Kenya 41 – 0 Madagascar
Uganda 14 – 19 Tunisia
Namibia 15 – 22 Morocco
Zimbabwe 31 – 10 Nigeria
Bowl Semi-finals;
Senegal 14 – Botswana 24
Mauritius 12 Zambia 7
Plate Semi-finals:
Madagascar 24 – 7 Uganda
Namibia 35 – 5 Nigeria
Cup Semi-finals:
Kenya 42 – 12 Tunisia
Morocco 0 – 26 Zimbabwe
Final Standings: 11th/12th Playoff- Senegal 5 Mauritius 40
Bowl Final – Botswana 26 Zambia 14
7th/8th – Uganda 22 Nigeria 12
Plate Final – Madagascar 17 Namibia 24
3rd/4th – Tunisia 12 Morocco 19
Cup Final – Kenya 19 Zimbabwe 17
Zimbabwe and Morocco have also booked their spot for that final Olympic Qualifying tournament, to be held later in June by finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in this African Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualification tournament. They join the likes of Tonga, Samoa and Hong Kong.
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WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES begins with Round One in Dubai on 4th/5th December, 2016.
Follow all the Sevens Rugby action with our in-depth coverage on Last Word On Sports with Jovilisi Waqa.
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