The national sevens circuit kicks off tomorrow with the 2012 edition of the Christie sevens hosted by the Kenya Harlequins this Saturday. 24 teams will take part in the two day tournament at the RFUEA grounds from 10am with the usual suspects looking to kick start their challenge for the Sevens crown on a high. By the usual suspects I mean Mwamba, Quins, KCB, Impala, Strathmore and Nakuru in no particular order.
Here are how the teams are pooled for Day 1 :
Pool A - Mwamba, Western Bulls, BlakBlad, Oryx.
Pool B - Quins, KCA, Eldoret, Webuye.
Pool C - KCB, Machine, Daystar, Thika.
Pool D - Nakuru, Impala, Catholic Uni, Stormers.
Pool E - Strathmore, Kisumu, Multimedia uni, Kimathi Uni.
Pool F - Homeboyz, Nondies, Kenya Poly, Bungoma.
Defending national sevens Champions, Mwamba find themselves in a rather manageable pool with the only potentially tricky encounter being against the fast rising Western Bulls. Kulabu reached the final in last year's edition losing out to KCB, they will be looking to rectify this as they begin their title defence. They kick off their games against Oryx, then face BlakBlad before closing their pool games against the bulls.
Hosts Quins headline Pool B, which they should breeze through without as much as breaking a sweat, no offence to their opponents. Last year's overall runners up kick off their tournament against Webuye, they then play Eldoret before closing their Day 1 matches against KCA. The duo of Felix Ayange and Nato Simiyu are set to make their Quins debuts proper sometime in one of those games with the latter having made the switch from fierce rivals Impala, should be interesting to see how they blend in.
Pool C's top seeds are the defending Christie champions KCB, they are joined by Kenya Cup rivals Machine with Daystar and Thika RFC completing the pool. KCB will begin their Christie's title defence against Daystar then move on to play Thika and finishing off with Machine.
Pool D sees the Wanyore come up against Impala, in what promises to be a titanic battle. This by a distance is my pick for match of the day, Day 1. Impala are looking to reclaim former glory in the sevens and redeem themselves from what was a disappointing 15's campaign. Nakuru on the other hand will look to carry on with the impeccable form that saw them finish second in the Kenya Cup intoto the sevens. Nakuru kick off their Christie challenge against Stormers, then play Catholic Uni, Impala's schedule is just the opposite.
Strathmore look to be comfortable in Pool E, the disciplined students who really love to play the shorter versions of the game are joined by Kisumu RFC, Multi Media and Kimathi universities. Strathmore's biggest challenge should be Kisumu RFC, the kondele boys are highly unpredictable and might just give the XVII crew a run for their money. Strath kick off their campaign against Mt. Kenya University before facing Multimedia and Kisumu in that oreder.
Pool F pits Kenya Cup sides Homeboyz and Nondies, the two dont really have a history but the Djs won the last encounter between the two, but that was 15's rugby. The two are joined by Kenya polytechnic University College 'Mixed Day and Boarding Academy Group of schools.' (That part of the name is usually hidden as it can not fit on buses, sign posts, letter heads..the sort) and Bungoma RFC. Homeboyz kick of their challenge against Bungoma then they play Kenya Poly then close the day against Nondies.
Day 1 looks pretty straight forward to me with Mwamba, Quins KCB and Strathmore expected to top their pools out rightly, the other two pools are evenly poised between the top two seeds. Expect Western Bulls to raffle some feathers as well as Webuye who were great last year. Blak blad also look like they'll cause a few headaches here and there. The draw for Day 2 will be done based on the teams Day 1 ranking, the ranking will be done on total points, with the highest aggregate points tally used as a tie breaker. Meaning teams should score as many points as possible to ensure progression into the Main Cup quarters. The team ranked 1st will play the 8th ranked side with the 2nd playing the 7th and so forth.
So the Safari sevens was officially launched earlier in the week, and as I mentioned earlier, this year's edition will again be at the Nyayo stadium on the weekend of the 21st of September. Here are the gate charges ndio mjipange mapema, Friday terraces will be 300, with Saturday and Sunday Terraces going for 500 Friday V.I.P will be 1000 with Saturday and Sunday V.I.P tickets going for 2000 bob. Seasonal tickets, Terraces - 1000 and 4000 for V.I.P tickets will go on sale from 20th August. Have you spotted the posters the Pau and Alu one? very ironical don't you think?
For a good laugh at the location(s) debate, visit the Safari sevens face book page here http://www.facebook.com/events/402872113104100/, you will hear of places never known to man ati Rfu impala..and dont get me wrong I do understand that rugby is not the most popular sport in Kenya but surely the confidence these twats have is alarming hehe. Now that I mention Rfuea and Impala, ati club house ya Impala inaitwagwa 'Kiosk?' LOL!! hehe NB I did not say nor write this just sharing a joke, I have nothing against Impala but please feel free to get offended..hehe ati kiosk I Kufd!
In other news, Kenya 15's international Lawrence 'Lawi' Buyachi has left Impala for his home Club Nakuru, the back row and former sevens international joins what is now becoming a growing list of exits from the gazelles.
Finally, yours truly will be celebrating rather extending his birthday celebrations to this weekend...hata wimbo ya Happy birthday nitasimama niskize lol!
And with that ladies and gents...please join me in enjoying the weekend and all it's offerings...
KWISHA..nimeruka nje!!!