With the first of the two Africa Men’s Sevens tournaments now something of the past, the organizers have announced the fixture list for the second edition this weekend, July 6 and July 7.
The second tournament, won by Uganda on Sunday, will have the same twelve countries as competitors, although there will undoubtedly be personnel changes to teams because of injury and unavailability.
With the first day of the Olympic Sevens on 24 July, Kenya could be disrupted by the loss of some stalwarts in Mauritius who will have to join the Kenyan team for training and departure for France.
The same may apply to South Africa, although at a lower number to be affected as the Blitzboks top players did not take part last weekend.
- The Labourdonnais Stadium in Port Louis with its firm surface, will again be the venue for this coming weekend.
The three top sides in the past competition, winners Uganda (Pool A), runners-up Madagascar (Pool B) and South Africa (Pool C) head up the respective pools
Uganda will have the past weekend’s fourth-placed Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire (seventh), and Tunisia (11th of the twelve sides) in their pool and therefore play in the first session on Saturday.
Madagascar, the losing finalist, will have to contend with Zambia, who were placed ninth, and Algeria (last) on Day One, while South Africa face Zimbabwe (fifth), home team Mauritius (eighth), and Nigeria as pool opposition.
- It is unknown how each of the pools’ fixtures will be structured, i.e. best against lowest performers or by draw.
The announced pools are –
Pool A: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Tunisia.
Pool B: Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria.
Pool C: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Nigeria.
The overall winner of the 2024 Africa Seven’s tournament will be determined on Saturday, July 6, and Sunday, July 7th at 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).
