The famous Wellington 7s
The famous Wellington 7s– The holidays have come to an end for our African players going back to the office !On Saturday, January 30th, 7s rugby reclaimed it rights in Wellington (New Zealand) sacred land of the oval ball.
As usual, the World Rugby Sevens Series took place over two days, on January 30th and 31st under a little mitigated weather. A little wind, sun, rain, well,all the seasons in a weekend ! Nevertheless attendance was as usual very good with a crowd of over 72,000 at Westpac Stadium over the weekend coming to be part of this unavoidable Sevensyearly event.
Saturday, January 30th : KENYA 31 – 7 CANADA KENYA 26 – 5 PORTUGAL KENYA 12 – 17 AUSTRALIA SOUTH AFRICA 28 – 5SCOTLAND SOUTH AFRICA 54 – 0 RUSSIA SOUTH AFRICA 14 – 19 NEW ZEALAND
Sunday, January 31st : NEW ZEALAND 36 – 0 KENYA KENYA 14 – 35 ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA 14 – 26 SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH AFRICA 31 – 0 FIJI NEW ZEALAND 24 – 21 SOUTH AFRICA
The All Blacks once again were victorious of theWellington 7s. They actually haven’t failed to win this tournamentsince the 2012-2013 season. The South African had to concede defeat to the Kiwiwho did not intend to let a home final escape them ! Nevertheless the Blitzbokke retain the first place of the general ranking, with anadvance of 2 points on theFiji’s team. Kenya as for them progressed in the rankings and are now ranked 8th.
Two African players are from now on in the rankingof the best scorerof the tournament. This week, both of them are South African; the first one is no other than Seabelo Senatla with than 7 tries to his credit and the sixth is Rosco Speckman with5 tries scored. What to assure still beautiful winto the Boks !
The Kenyans also made strong sensation this weekend. Impressive by their power, their ease, their speed, theybowlteams and spectators over by offering a show worthyof Africa !
In 4 days, World Rugby Sevens Series continueits world tour and puts down itssuitcases in Sydney for the 4th stage of the circuit. For the occasion, the South African team will be a little modified, indeed further to a shoulder injury, Justin Geduld will be replaced by Tim Agaba. Neil Powell, Springbok Sevens coach, said Agaba now has the opportunity to show what he can do at the highest level : “He played very well for the EP Kings in the Currie Cup and also starred for the SA Rugby Sevens Academy side in their three tournaments recently in Dubai and South America respectively.Tim only joined our setup recently and I know he is still inexperienced. But the only way to test whether a player is capable of playing at this level is by giving him a chance.”
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About Rugby Africa:
Rugby Africa (www.RugbyAfrique.com) is the governing body of rugby in Africa and one of the regional associations under World Rugby. It unites all African countries that play rugby union, rugby sevens, and women’s rugby. Rugby Africa organizes various competitions, including the qualifying tournaments for the Rugby World Cup and the Africa Sevens, a qualifying competition for the Olympic Games. With 39 member unions, Rugby Africa is dedicated to promoting and developing rugby across the continent. World Rugby highlighted Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia as three of the six emerging nations experiencing strong growth in rugby.
