Based on the rankings of the first tournament last weekend, the three medal winners in the Africa Men’s Sevens first leg that ended on Sunday, June 30, seem to have an easy kick-off in the second tournament that starts on Saturday, July 6, at the Labourdonnais Sports Club in Mauritius.
This method of finalizing draws in sports meetings decided in multi-faceted rounds is of course commonplace, with tournament tennis as a prime example.
While all the teams will use this second opportunity of international Sevens to hone their skills, improve their playing structures, and measure themselves at a high level, this tournament is of immense importance, especially for the leading sides.
The reason? The 2024 champion of Rugby Africa Men’s 7s will be determined from the overall rankings after the two rounds have been played.
Bronze medal winner South Africa will face Nigeria, who was placed 10th last weekend, in the first round on Saturday; losing finalist Madagascar play Côte D’Ivoire who was placed seventh, and last weekend’s champions Uganda, face second-last team Tunisia.
Kick-off of the above first round of six matches is at 09:00 (local time), with the second round starting at 11:44 (local time) when Nigeria and Zimbabwe kick off proceedings, followed by South Africa (ranked three in the first tournament) face home side Mauritius (8).
Then Kenya (6) and Algeria (12) follow with the losing finalist last weekend Madagascar (2) and Zambia (9) locking horns next.
First tournament champion Uganda again has the last say in Round One when they play Côte D’Ivoire following the penultimate clash between Burkina Faso and Tunisia.
Rounds 2 and 3 (local time)
The second round kicks off at 11.44 and the fixtures are as follows:
11:44 Nigeria vs Zimbabwe; 12:06 Mauritius vs South Africa; 12:28 Kenya vs Algeria; 12:50 Madagascar vs Zambia; 13:12 Burkina Faso vs Tunisia; 13:34 Uganda vs Côte d’Ivoire.
The draw for the third round proceeds at 15:12 after a second break will see Zambia vs Algeria in the first match. Then follow at 15:34 Madagascar vs Kenya; at 15:56 Tunisia vs Côte D’Ivoire; at 16:18 Uganda vs Burkina Faso; 16:40 Zimbabwe vs South Africa; and lastly to complete the pool fixtures, at 17:02 Nigeria vs Mauritius.
Then the play-offs at the various levels will be played to determine the eventual winner and other placings.
The current placings after the first tournament –
Uganda 20
Madagascar 18
South Africa 16
Burkina Faso 14
Zimbabwe 12
Kenya 10
Côte D’Ivoire 8
Mauritius 6
Zambia 4
Nigeria 3
Tunisia 1
Algeria 1
Overall winner of the 2024 Africa Seven’s tournament will be determined on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7at Labourdonnais Sports Grounds in Mauritius. All matches are available for streaming on the Rugby Pass TV, SuperSport Linear, MBC HD, Rugby Africa Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RugbyAfrique) and YouTube Page (https://www.youtube.com/c/RugbyAfrique).
