2011 Safari Sevens

The 2011 Safari Sevens were the 16th annual edition of the Safari Sevens.

2011 Safari Sevens
Host nation	Kenya
Date	4–6 November 2011
Cup
Champion	Samoa
Runner-up	Samurai Sevens
Plate
Winner	Auckland Vikings
Runner-up	Zimbabwe
Bowl
Winner	Tackling Cancer Tigers
Runner-up	Bristol University Select
Shield
Winner	Uganda
Runner-up	Rwanda
← 2010 2012 →

Tournament administration

Venue

After 15 years at the RFUEA Ground and growing attendances annually, the Kenya Rugby Football Union decided to take the tournament to the Nyayo National Stadium for the first time. Nyayo is a football and athletics stadium built in 1983 to host the 1987 All-Africa Games and has a capacity of 30,000; the 2010 African Athletics Championships were also held here. It is the headquarters for the Kenya Football Federation and Athletics Kenya. The rationale for the move was to allow room for more spectators as part of the KRU's bid to have the tournament included in the IRB Sevens World Series by 2015; it was reported[1] that IRB observers were in the country to monitor the event.

There were some worries prior to the event about the move, the area is notorious for robbers who attack motorists and pedestrians and at least one murder has been recorded there two years ago. The Police put in place a security plan including road closures to ensure the tournament passed without incident. Parts of Langata Road and Aerodrome Road were closed to motorists apart from those bearing VIP stickers; parking and shuttle busses were also put in place for the fans between the stadium and Highway Secondary School, All Saints Primary School and Kenya Railways Sports Club.[1] Security fears were vindicated after a woman was raped leaving the tournament.[2] Other commentators have said that the area is no more dangerous than the surroundings of the RFUEA Ground and that the attack was partially a result of bad luck or poor judgement to decide to walk home rather than take a taxi or bus.

Dates

For the first time the tournament was held in early November, rather than the traditional June, in order to avoid clashes with other world class rugby events so that more prestigious teams could send sides to participate and thus further raise the prominence of the event in the world rugby calendar. The Rugby World Cup 2011 ended in October and the IRB Sevens World Series began two weeks later in late November. The hope is that the Safari Sevens will become a warm-up event to (and possibly even an integral part of) future IRB Sevens World Series.[3]

Ticketing

Standard tickets cost KSh300 (Friday) or KSh400 (Saturday and Sunday) per day (KSh1000 for all three days - equal to £6.39 or €7,43 or US$10.25). VIP tickets were KSh1000 (Friday) or KSh2000 (Saturday and Sunday) per day, KSh4000 for all three days - equal to £25.58 or €29,73 or US$41.00).[3]

Match officials

A strong panel of match officials blending experienced regulars from previous editions of the Safaricom Sevens with up and coming match officials from the region and overseas referees with international experience. Hong Kong’s Lee Wing Yi Gabriel became the first top female referee to officiate at the Safari Sevens (though Kenya’s own Sarah Agola, who also officiated, was a veteran of six tournaments having made her officiating debut at the 2005 tournament).[4]

The 2011 tournament match officials

Name	Home Union	Experience

Men's Tournament

Participating Teams

Hosts Kenya, Uganda and Bristol University from the United Kingdom are the only sides to have played in this annual event since its inception in 1996.[5]

The teams were as follows.[6]

Pool A

Team	Notes
Kenya	Tournament hosts and defending champions, have finished in the top ten every season of the IRB Sevens World Series since 2007-2008. Played for the first time under their new coach Mitch Ocholla in this tournament.
Rwanda
Uganda	Featured at every Safari Sevens since its inception, putting in creditable performances. They have a great rivalry with hosts Kenya in both the sevens and fifteens.
Universitaire de Grenoble	An invitation team made up of players from the Université de Grenoble and FC Grenoble rugby teams.[7] Semi-finalists last year, they lost 0-22 to the Emerging Springboks.

Pool B

Team	Notes
Auckland Vikings	The representative team of Auckland, the 2011 New Zealand Provincial Sevens champions (visit their website)
Bristol University Select	An invitation team based around Bristol University RFC players but also features others from the Bristol region, including Clifton RFC and the professional outfit Bristol. Have played in every Safari Sevens tournament since 1996.
Emerging Springboks	The Emerging Springboks are a national representative side of players who have never won a full South African cap. They made their debut at the Safari Sevens in 2003 (losing to Kenya in the final). They lost to Kenya again in 2004 before winning in 2006 and 2007 (beating Zimbabwe both times).
Mwamba RFC	Kenya National Sevens Circuit Champions 2011.

Pool C

Team	Notes
Goshawks	The Under 21 National 7-a-side rugby team of Zimbabwe
Samoa	The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series champions included 2010 IRB Sevens World Player of the Year Mikaele Pesamino (fourth in the all time leading try scorers on the IRB Sevens World Series chart) in their selection.
Spain	Competed in several legs of the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series, they entered the Safari Sevens to hone their skills in the short version of the game.
Tackling Cancer Tigers[8]	A team of amateur American rugby sevens all-stars, led by coach James Walker from Belmont Shore[9] (listed as Belmont Shore RFC in some media). A former Kenya Sevens international, Anthony Ongoro, joined them for this, their first trip to Nairobi.

Pool D

Team	Notes
Royal Welsh Warriors	A team drawn from soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Royal Welsh Regiment, a recently restructured regiment of the British Army
Samurai Sevens	professional invitation side sponsored by Samurai Sportswear, was founded in 1996 by Terry Sands for the 25th Amsterdam Sevens.
Tanzania
Zimbabwe	Frequent entrants of the competition, they have never won the title but have got to the main cup final on three occasions, 1996, 2006 and 2007.

Teams unable to attend

Teams slated to attend but later withdrew included:[3]

Team	Notes
British Army rugby sevens team	Replaced by the Royal Welsh Warriors
False Bay RFC	False Bay, South Africa
Les Bleus	Les Bleus Sevens is a non-profit organisation entirely independent of the FFR who also sponsor their own 7-a-side rugby team, Les Bleus, many of whom have gone on to play for the French National sevens side. see their website
Namibia
Zambia	Cited security issues rather than a lack of funding for their decision to miss the tournament; Kenyan security forces had been engaged for three weeks in a military offensive inside neighboring Somalia after a series of terror attacks on Kenyan tourism targets. Mwamba RFC filled their berth.

Pool stages

Results form the pool stages.[10]

Pool A

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Kenya 26 - 7 Universitaire de Grenoble  Uganda 24 - 0 Rwanda   Rwanda 0 - 36 Kenya   Uganda 5 - 47 Universitaire de Grenoble  Universitaire de Grenoble 45 - 12 Rwanda   Kenya 22 - 7 Uganda	Team Pld W D L Pts  Kenya 3 3 0 0 9  Universitaire de Grenoble 3 2 0 1 7  Uganda 3 1 0 2 5  Rwanda 3 0 0 3 3

Pool B

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Emerging Springboks 28 - 24 Auckland Vikings  Bristol University Select 17 - 21 Mwamba RFC  Mwamba RFC 12 - 19 Emerging Springboks   Bristol University Select 7 - 43 Auckland Vikings  Auckland Vikings 24 - 14 Mwamba RFC  Emerging Springboks 46 - 0 Bristol University Select	Team Pld W D L Pts  Emerging Springboks 3 3 0 0 9  Auckland Vikings 3 2 0 1 7  Mwamba RFC 3 1 0 2 5  Bristol University Select 3 0 0 3 3

Pool C

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Samoa 46 - 0 Tiger Rugby  Spain 29 - 0 Goshawks   Goshawks 0 - 80 Samoa   Spain 33 - 0 Tiger Rugby  Tiger Rugby 40 - 10 Goshawks   Samoa 14 - 14 Spain	Team Pld W D L Pts  Samoa 3 2 1 0 8  Spain 3 2 1 1 8  Tiger Rugby 3 1 0 2 5  Goshawks 3 0 0 3 3

The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament. Spain and Samoa tied on points and their head to head result; Samoa won Pool C by virtue of the fact they scored a total of 140 points to Spain's 76.

Pool D

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Zimbabwe 38 - 5 Royal Welsh  Samurai Sevens 64 - 0 Tanzania   Tanzania 0 - 51 Zimbabwe   Samurai Sevens 33 - 7 Royal Welsh  Royal Welsh 12 - 0 Tanzania   Zimbabwe 10 - 24 Samurai Sevens	Team Pld W D L Pts  Samurai Sevens 3 3 0 0 9  Zimbabwe 3 2 0 1 7  Royal Welsh 3 1 0 2 5  Tanzania 3 0 0 3 3

Knockout Stage

Results from the knockout stage.[11][12]

Cup

	Cup Quarter-finals					Cup Semi-finals					Final
	Kenya		12
	Auckland Vikings		7
						Kenya		12
						Samurai Sevens		29
	Samurai Sevens		17
	Spain		0
											Samoa		31
											Samurai Sevens		12
	Samoa		34
	Zimbabwe		5
						Samoa		19
						Emerging Springboks		10
	Emerging Springboks		24
	Universitaire de Grenoble		14

Plate

	Plate Semi-final					Plate Final
	1	Auckland Vikings	19
	4	Spain	14
						Auckland Vikings		29
						Zimbabwe		12
	3	Zimbabwe	19
	2	Universitaire de Grenoble	14

Bowl

	Bowl Quarter-finals					Bowl Semi-finals					Bowl Final
	Uganda		0
	Bristol University Select		19
						Bristol University Select		26
						Royal Welsh		7
	Royal Welsh		7
	Goshawks		5
											Bristol University Select		14
											Tiger Rugby		17
	Tiger Rugby		52
	Tanzania		0
						Tiger Rugby		28
						Mwamba RFC		7
	Mwamba RFC		19
	Rwanda		5

Shield

	Shield Semi-final					Shield Final
	1	Tanzania	12
	4	Rwanda	28
						Uganda		31
						Rwanda		0
	3	Uganda	21
	2	Goshawks	5

Women's Tournament Result

Round-robin stage

Matches	Final standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Uganda ‘A’ 0 – 24 Kenya   Uganda ‘A’ 24 – 5 Kenya ‘A’   Uganda 29 – 0 Kenya ‘A’   Kenya 41 – 5 Kenya ‘A’   Uganda 45 – 0 Uganda ‘A’   Kenya 10 – 10 Uganda	Team Pld W D L Pts  Uganda 3 2 1 0 8  Kenya 3 2 1 0 8  Uganda ‘A’ 3 1 0 2 5  Kenya ‘A’ 3 0 0 3 3

Knockout Stage

	Women's Cup Final
	1	Kenya	7
	2	Uganda	5

Doreen Remour touched down for Kenya, which was converted by Irene Awino.

Men's Veteran Results

Pool 'A'

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2 Nondies Vets 5 – 21 Quins Vets Quins Vets 29 – 0 KCB Vets Nondies Vets 36 – 0 KCB Vets	Team Pld W D L Pts Quins Vets 2 2 0 0 6 Nondies Vets 2 1 0 1 4 KCB Vets 2 0 0 2 2

Pool 'B'

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2 Les Gaulois 5 – 15 Pwani (Coast) Impala Vets 7 – 10 Pwani (Coast) Rogue Buffaloes 17 – 0 Les Gaulois Impala Vets 0 – 12 Rogue Buffaloes Rogue Buffaloes 12 – 7 Pwani (Coast) Impala Vets 22 – 5 Les Gaulois	Team Pld W D L Pts Rogue Buffaloes 3 3 0 0 9 Pwani (Coast) 3 2 0 1 7 Impala Vets 3 1 0 2 5 Les Gaulois 3 0 0 3 3

Knockout Stage

	Veteran's Semi-final					Veteran's Final
	1	Quins Vets	44
	4	Pwani (Coast)	0
						Quins Vets		12
						Nondies Vets		0
	3	Rogue Buffaloes	0
	2	Nondies Vets	15

Boys

Provinces of Kenya

1. Central 2. Coast 3. Eastern 4. Nairobi

5. North Eastern 6. Nyanza 7. Rift Valley 8. Western

[12][13][14][15]

Pool 'A'

Tanzania made history by putting together a national representative under-19 side for the event.[16] Zimbabwe also sent a national representative side as they have done to several previous Safari Sevens tournaments. Uganda sent their school national champions Hana Mixed School.[17][18]

All eight of the Kenya provinces were represented in the tournament.

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2  Tanzania 12 – 24 Rift Valley Nyanza 12 – 14 Central Rift Valley 7 – 17 Nairobi  Tanzania 7 – 34 Nyanza Nairobi 5 – 5 Central Rift Valley 0 – 36 Nyanza Nyanza 17 – 0 Nairobi Central 10 – 12 Tanzania  Central 14 – 15 Rift Valley Nairobi 46 – 0 Tanzania	Team Pld W D L Pts Nyanza 4 3 0 1 10 Nairobi 4 2 1 1 9 Rift Valley 4 2 0 2 8 Central 4 1 1 2 7  Tanzania 4 1 0 3 6

Pool 'B'

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2 Western 41 – 0 Coast Hana Mixed (Uganda) 31 – 0 Eastern Coast 7 – 31 Zimbabwe  Western 12 – 14 Hana Mixed (Uganda)  Zimbabwe 22 – 0 Eastern Coast 0 – 46 Hana Mixed (Uganda) Hana Mixed (Uganda) 21 – 7 Zimbabwe  Eastern 0 – 46 Western Eastern 27 – 10 Coast  Zimbabwe 0 – 36 Western	Team Pld W D L Pts Hana Mixed School (Uganda) 4 4 0 0 12 Western 4 3 0 1 10  Zimbabwe 4 2 0 2 8 Eastern 4 1 0 3 6 Coast 4 0 0 4 4

Boy's Cup

	Boy's Semi-final					Boy's Final
	1	Nyanza	0
	4	Western	22
						Western		15
						Hana Mixed School (Uganda)		19
	3	Hana Mixed School (Uganda)	20
	2	Nairobi	0

Boy's Plate

	Boy's Plate-final
	1	Nyanza	19
	2	Nairobi	14

Boy's Bowl

	Boy's Bowl-final
	1	Rift Valley	10
	2	Zimbabwe	15

Boy's Shield

	Boy's Shield-final
	1	Eastern	5
	2	Central	25

Girls

Pool 'A'

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2 Mukumu – Comras J.M.Kariuki – St. Martin J.M.Kariuki – Comras Mukumu – J.M Kariuki Comras – St. Martin Mukumu – St. Martin	Team Pld W D L Pts 3 3 0 0 9 3 2 0 1 7 3 1 0 2 5 2 0 0 3 3

Pool 'B'

Matches	Final Pool standings
Team 1 Score Team 2 Butere – Hidden Talent Hopewell – Mercy Care Butere – Mercy Care Hopewell – Hidden Talent Butere – Hopewell Hidden Talent – Mercy Care	Team Pld W D L Pts 3 3 0 0 9 3 2 0 1 7 3 1 0 2 5 2 0 0 3 3

Girl's Cup

	Girl's Semi-final					Girl's Final
	1
	4
						Butere
						Mukumu
	3
	2

Girl's Plate

	Girl's Plate-final
	1
	2

Girl's Bowl

	Girl's Bowl-final
	1
	2

Girl's Shield

	Girl's Shield-final
	1
	2

References

1. "Capital Sports » Kenya in easy Safaricom 7s pool". Capitalfm.co.ke. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
2. "The Standard | Woman raped coming from 'Sevens'". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
3. "Sevens". Safaricom. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
4. "Leading female referee to officiate at the Safaricom Sevens". Safarisevens.com. 2011-10-28. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
5. "rugby: Uganda name youthful squad for Safaricom Sevens". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
6. "Safaricom 7s Teams". Safaricom.co.ke. Archived from the original on 2012-01-22. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
7. "FC Grenoble Rugby | Ils sont du voyage au Kenya - Ils sont du voyage au Kenya Huit Rouge&bleu sont retenus dans l'Êquipe Universitaire de Grenoble... | Kenya, Grenoble, Rugby, Adrien, Helmer". Fcgrugby.com. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
8. "Tough Draw for Tigers in Nairobi". Rugbymag.com. 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
9. door tigerrugbytube's channel. "Kanaal van tigerrugbytube". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-01-13.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. "l Kenya headline Pool A as Safaricom Sevens draw released". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
11. "Fixtures". Safaricom.co.ke. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
12. "Safaricom Sevens: Kenya lead the way to quarters". Facebook. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
13. "rugby: Ayange's brace gives Kenya's perfect start in Safari 7s". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
14. "rugby: Safari Sevens kick off, with Uganda dominating schools event". Sportsnewsarena.com. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
15. "Uganda: Rugby Cranes Safari Sevens Final". allAfrica.com. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
16. "Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Rugby Players Appreciate Safari Sevens Championship". allAfrica.com. 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
17. "Zimbabwe Name Schools Side For Junior Safari Sevens". Zimbabwerugby.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
18. "Schools Kick Off Safari Sevens". Zimbabwerugby.com. 2007-06-08. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-01-13.