Kenya Morans will return to the continental stage when they line up at the Africa Cup Sevens in Mauritius from October 3-4.
<chrismbaisi@gmail.com>The team will use the tournament to build momentum ahead of the Safari Sevens a week later. The tournament, initially scheduled for June, was postponed after the Ebola virus outbreak affected several African countries.
Morans will battle eight other nations in Mauritius, including defending champions South Africa, hosts Mauritius, Namibia, Madagascar, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Reunion.
Kenya Rugby Union director of Sevens Humphrey Kayange expects the Morans to produce a better showing after Kenya finished fourth in last year’s edition.
“We are just coming to the end of our National Sevens Series, and we have seen new emerging talent from all the clubs and some exceptional players. We hope to harness this talent into the Morans team for the championship,” said Kayange.
He believes the Mauritius tournament will provide the ideal platform for the team to fine-tune preparations for the Safari Sevens, scheduled for October 10-11 at Nyayo Stadium.
“The event in Mauritius is appropriate for the team, especially with Safari Sevens a week later. The boys will have momentum heading to the event at Nyayo Stadium,” added Kayange.
A provisional squad of between 35 and 40 players is expected to be named this week to begin preparations for both tournaments. Kayange anticipates fierce competition for places after several players impressed during the national sevens circuit.
“From the circuit we have seen several good players, so competition for places will be very tight, with several players looking to catch the coaches’ attention,” he said.
Kenya will be seeking to improve on their fourth-place finish in the 2025 edition, where they started strongly by beating Ivory Coast 36-0, Ghana 33-0 and Uganda 12-5 in the preliminary stage. They went on to beat Nigeria 43-12 in the quarter-finals before suffering a narrow 14-12 defeat to Madagascar in the semi-finals.
The Morans looked set for bronze after taking a 19-7 lead against Zimbabwe in the third-place play-off, but surrendered the advantage to lose 21-19. In the 2024 edition, Kenya finished sixth after the Africa Cup was played over a two-week format, with the Morans accumulating 20 points.
