Safari Sevens
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 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2010) |
Current season, competition or edition: Rugby Sevens | |
| Founded | 1996 |
|---|---|
| First season | 1996 |
| Motto | Africa's Premier Rugby Sevens Tournament |
| Country | Kenya |
| Venue(s) | RFUEA Ground, Nairobi, Kenya |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Kenya |
| Most titles | Kenya (9) |
| Qualification | By application and invitation. |
| Official website | http://safarisevens.com/ |
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.
Initially held at the RFUEA Ground, home of the Kenya Rugby Union, the tournament was moved to the Nyayo National Stadium in 2010 and 2011 and then held in the 60,000 seat Moi International Sports Centre from 2012 through 2017. Due to declining spectators and sponsor interest, the event was moved back to the RFUEA in 2018.
History
Since the earliest days, rugby in Kenya had relied on a regular influx of foreign touring sides in order to test the mettle of the local teams and to provide opposition for the representative sides such as the Scorpions RFC and East Africa. The coming of professionalism to rugby in the 1990s all but dried up these tours and it was decided that a means had to be found of re-initiating the influx if the quality of rugby in the country was not to stagnate.
The Rugby Patrons Society decided to put in place a seven-a-side tournament and invite a number of foreign national and club teams to participate. Robin Cahill (a founder member of the society and the man whose brainchild the tournament is) led a team of Patrons to run all the early competitions and oversee its integration into the Kenya Rugby Union's calendar. The trophy, a bronze of two elephants, is named in his memory.
The Inaugural Tournament 1996
The inaugural tournament took place in 1996,
Expansion and Growth 1997-2007
In 1999 the then
The tournament would grow in stature with a large increase in crowds numbers. In 2004 the first women's team played in the tournament.[3]
In 2005 Fijian rugby great, Waisale Serevi played for Kenya A (Shujaa) as a guest player.[4]
Since then the tournament attracted the likes of
The tournament has attracted a variety of international rugby players and coaches including Naas Botha in 1999, Waisale Serevi and Gordon Tietjens.[7]
Consolidation 2008-2009
The 13th edition of the Safari Sevens saw a rise in the gate fee of KSh200 per person to KSh800, in addition the weather was colder than usual but this did not produce any reduction in the crowds.
The
Kenya won the competition beating the Emerging Boks in the final, 31–12. The continued increase in the number of people attending the event and this year's rise in admission caused many critics[who?] called for an upgrade in the quantity and quality of seating available for spectators.
Nine nations took part in the 2009 event; Botswana, Japan, Kenya (who finished sixth in the IRB Sevens World Series this year), Morocco, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Other foreign teams included the perennial Bristol University Select from the
The refereeing cadre included the IRB elite referees Wayne Barnes and David Rose of England.[10][11]
2010-2012
The tournament, under title sponsorship from Kenyan mobile telephony giant Safaricom, became known as the Safaricom Sevens, was hosted for the last time at the RFUEA Ground in 2010,shifting to the 35,000 seater Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi for the 2011 and 2012 edition. The rationale for the venue shift was the exponential rise in crowd numbers, and the RFUEA's inability to host such crowds.
Former World Rugby Sevens Series champions Samoa returned for the 2011 edition, winning the tournament for a second time with a 31-12 win over Samurai Sevens. South Africa Sevens Elite Player Development (EPD) squad which featured
2013-2014
When the Kenya Rugby Union revealed that the 2013 tournament would be held at the 60,000 seater Safaricom Stadium located at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, located in the Northern Suburbs of Nairobi, this announcement was met with skepticism by a section of "rugby diehards" for myriad reasons including the distance of the grandstands to the playing field amongst other factors.
This mattered little as a massive marketing and publicity campaign fronted by title sponsors
This did not put a damper on the tournament as slightly over 20000 fans turned up to watch the final day of the tournament. Kenya Shujaa would beat the Australia Renegades 40-7 to claim the Robin Cahill Trophy , a win that they dedicated to the 67 lives lost at Westgate. Welsh Warriors defeated Argentina 24-17 to win the 2014 edition.
Tournament Decline 2015-2016
The tournament very nearly didn't take place in 2015 owing to governance issues at the Kenya Rugby Union which led to the then title sponsors Safaricom pulling out. It did eventually take place to poor numbers at a venue that just a year earlier had attracted over 70000 fans over two days. Poor attendance returned to haunt the tournament in 2016 and it is envisaged that the Kenya Rugby Union and its partners will work to woo the fans back to the tournament either via a venue change or a deliberate and aggressive marketing campaign while attracting quality international sides and introducing prize money to the event that was once billed as "Africa's Premier Rugby Sevens Event."
Tournament Postponement 2017
The Safari Sevens was postponed in 2017 due to "uncertainty in the prevailing political climate" according to the KRU. Kenya held 2017 Kenyan general election in August 2017 of which the results were disputed.
Tournament Comeback 2018-2019
The tournament was reinstated in 2018 at the RFUEA Ground. The 2019 edition of the tournament, with the title sponsorship of
The Kenya Morans beat the Bliztboks 19-14 in a thrilling final.
Table of Previous Winners
A list of results for all tournaments.[12][13][14]
Notes
a. ^ In 2000 Kenya won the right to host the Africa Zone Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals. Rather than cancel the Safari Sevens they combined both events into a three-day festival. The Kenya sevens side did not therefore take part in the Safari Sevens; Shujaa the Kenya 'A' side carried the hopes of the home crowd and did not disappoint, winning the cup.
External links
References
- ^ "Sevens rugby in Kenya". kenyapage.net. Archived from the original on 2003-03-08.
- ^ "Sevens rugby in Kenya". kenyapage.net. Archived from the original on 2003-03-08.
- ^ Kenyapage.net: The History of Rugby in Kenya
- ^ http://www.jamati.com/online/sports/africas-premier-rugby-tournament-the-tusker-safari-sevens/
- ^ Daily Nation, 25 May 2010: [1] Tickets on sale
- ^ Kenyapage.net: The History of Rugby in Kenya
- ^ Daily Nation, May 11, 2010 : Tietjens for Safaricom 7s
- ^ "Egoimagekenya » Hot Gossip » Tusker Safari sevens 20th- 22nd June 2008". Archived from the original on 2010-11-17. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
- ^ http://www.bristolrugby.co.uk/3840.php [dead link]
- ^ http://www.rfu.com/News/2009/July/News%20Articles/SandSurfAndSafariAsEliteRefsSpreadTheWord.aspx?a=1&y=2009
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Safari Sevens 2009: Magazine
- ^ "Shujaa dedicate Safaricom Sevens title to Westgate victims". www.kenyarfu.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-26.
- ^ "SA Sevens EPD clinch the Safaricom Sevens title". www.kenyarfu.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15.