Zimbabwe defeats Kenya in final of Africa Rugby Sevens for third title
The tournament victory marked Zimbabwe's third Africa Men's Sevens title to go along with their four runner-up finishes in the continent's most prestigious Sevens Rugby tournament.
Uganda had great hopes of being named African Sevens Champions for the third year in a row, but 2017 runners-up Zimbabwe had seriously different ideas, and Kenya had hopes of winning back the title for the first time since 2015. Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe all had solid group stages, with Zimbabwe the only nation of the three to concede points in the group stages.
Heading into the quarterfinals, Uganda had the tougher game, faced with Tunisia whom they swept aside to set up a repeat of the 2017 final against Zimbabwe in the semifinal. Kenya won their semifinal against Madagascar 36–5 to go into the final having only conceded 12 points throughout the entire tournament.
Zimbabwe was however able to overturn last year’s final result, defeating Uganda 24–19, and went into the final as the underdogs. However, the loyalty of the Zimbabwean fans was rewarded by their team’s strong performance. Zimbabwe managed to go one better than the previous year by beating Kenya 17–5 for their first Africa Men’s Sevens title since 2012.
The Zimbabwean coach, Gilbert Nyamutsamba, understandably beamed with pride and sported a smile from ear to ear for his players. “I’m very proud of our players. This is a really special group full of rising stars in Zimbabwean rugby,” he said. “With limited resources, these players, driven by national pride, gave their all. I have huge respect and affection for this team.”
Back in Harare, the team will have to quickly throw themselves back into training to prepare for the competitions in which they are now being invited to play. They will be playing in the 2018/ 2019 World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments in Dubai from 30 November to 1 December as well as in Cape Town from 8 to 9 December.
These high-level international tournaments will serve as excellent practice for the 2019/ 2020 World Series qualifier, which takes place in Hong Kong in April next year. For this crucial tournament, the men from Harare will be joined by the Ugandans who finished third in the African tournament, and by the Kenyans who have already qualified for the World Series.
In 2019, the African Olympic qualifiers will be the major challenge of the rugby season for all teams.
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