The Safari Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

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. The Safari Sevens is open to international representative sides, professional and amateur clubs, invitational teams, university and school teams. Initially held at the RFUEA Ground, home of the

Kenya Rugby Union Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) is the governing body for rugby union in Kenya. It was founded in 1970 and is affiliated to Rugby Africa and the international governing body World Rugby. KRU is responsible for the running of the Kenya national rugby un ...

, the tournament was moved to the

Nyayo National Stadium Nyayo National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located at the square of Mombasa Road, Langata Road and the Aerodrome Road. It is approximately two kilometers from the City Center, directly opposite Nairobi Mega Mall, ...

in 2010 and 2011 and then held in the 60,000 seat

Moi International Sports Centre The Moi International Sports Centre (abbreviated as MISC) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kasarani, Kenya. It was built in 1987 for the All-Africa Games held in Nairobi. The facilities include a 60,000 seat arena with a running track and a pitch u ...

from 2012 through 2017. Due to declining spectators and sponsor interest, the event was moved back to the RFUEA in 2018.

History

Since the earliest days, rugby in Kenya had relied on a regular influx of foreign touring sides in order to test the mettle of the local teams and to provide opposition for the representative sides such as the Scorpions RFC and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. The coming of professionalism to rugby in the 1990s all but dried up these tours and it was decided that a means had to be found of re-initiating the influx if the quality of rugby in the country was not to stagnate. The

Rugby Patrons Society Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

decided to put in place a seven-a-side tournament and invite a number of foreign national and club teams to participate. Robin Cahill (a founder member of the society and the man whose brainchild the tournament is) led a team of Patrons to run all the early competitions and oversee its integration into the

's calendar. The trophy, a bronze of two elephants, is named in his memory.

The Inaugural Tournament 1996

The inaugural tournament took place in 1996,

Public School Wanderers The Public School Wanderers Club is a sports club in the United Kingdom that was formed in 1940 by Charles Burton, a Fleet Street journalist. It was formed to provide cricket and rugby for public schoolboys during their school holidays, but wi ...

, who had supported Kenyan rugby for many years, brought a strong squad as did the Welsh Exiles (a team managed by the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

to nurture Wales qualified players living outside of the Principality) captained by future

Welsh International The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, a ...

captain,

Colin Charvis Colin Charvis (born 27 December 1972) is a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team and also played for the British & Irish Lions. A back row forward, Charvis was equally adept as a flanker or as the no. 8. Charvis became the w ...

. The tournament also included several international teams ( Arabian Gulf,

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Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) as well as

Selkirk RFC Selkirk Rugby Football Club are a rugby union side based in Selkirk in the Borders, Scotland. They play in their home games at Philiphaugh, and compete in the Scottish Premiership (the highest tier of club rugby) and the Border League (the olde ...

and a

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

Schoolboys team. The chairman of the referees was the famous English referee Ed Morrison and he took charge of the final between the

and Zimbabwe.

Chester Williams Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the ...

was there as guest of honor and to present the trophies to the winners which included Kenya (who beat Uganda 38-12 in the Plate final) and Cumbria Schoolboys who defeated Shujaa 29-10 in the Bowl Final.

Expansion and Growth 1997-2007

In 1999 the then

Kenya Rugby Football Union Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) is the governing body for rugby union in Kenya. It was founded in 1970 and is affiliated to Rugby Africa and the international governing body World Rugby. KRU is responsible for the running of the Kenya national rugby un ...

, now the

, applied and won the right to host the Africa Zone Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals. This qualification competition was combined with the 2000 tournament to make it into a longer 3 day festival of rugby rather than cancel the Safari Sevens. The Kenya sevens side did not therefore take part in the Safari Sevens; ''Shujaa'' the Kenya 'A' side carried the hopes of the home crowd and did not disappoint, winning the cup. In the World Cup Qualifying tournament Kenya, captained by Sammy Khakame, defeated Swaziland and then Madagascar at the beginning of day two and then Namibia in the semi-finals on day three, thus qualifying to go to Argentina the next year as there were two slots open to the African Zone. Zimbabwe defeated Kenya in the final. The tournament would grow in stature with a large increase in crowds numbers. In 2004 the first women's team played in the tournament. In 2005 Fijian rugby great,

Waisale Serevi Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968) is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long car ...

played for Kenya A (Shujaa) as a guest player. Since then the tournament attracted the likes of

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

Emerging Springboks South Africa 'A', also formerly known as the Junior Springboks or the Emerging Springboks, are the second national rugby union team representing South Africa, below the senior national team, the Springboks. Until 2018, it was also under the Sou ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

, Belgium Barbarians. The tournament has attracted a variety of international rugby players and coaches including

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player, who played for Northern Transvaal and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted ''Rugby Player of the Year'' in 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1987. Bo ...

in 1999,

and

Gordon Tietjens Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens (born 9 December 1955) is head coach of the Samoa rugby sevens team, and a celebrated former coach of the New Zealand men's national team in rugby sevens, the All Blacks Sevens. When the International Rugby Boar ...

Consolidation 2008-2009

The 13th edition of the Safari Sevens saw a rise in the gate fee of KSh200 per person to KSh800, in addition the weather was colder than usual but this did not produce any reduction in the crowds. The spectators included Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister

Musalia Mudavadi Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi (born 21 September 1960) is a Kenyan politician and land economist who is currently serving as the Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya. Until October 2022, he was also the party leader of the Amani National Congress (ANC ...

(who presented the prizes) and former Kenyan Prime Minister

Raila Odinga Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata and businessman who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He is assumed to be the Leader of Opposition in Kenya sin ...

, as well as various other celebrities from the world of Kenyan show business ensuring a constant flow of

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

Jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

and

Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

s into and out of the car park. The

Fiji Barbarians The Fiji Barbarians is a Fijian former rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Fijian team in the Cup was the Fiji Warriors. The players were drawn from the Fijian domestic competitions. The ...

made their debut at the Safari Sevens in 2008. National teams taking part were

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, France A (Les Blues),

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, Zambia,

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. In addition Samurai Sevens (a professional rugby invitation side) and the Kenya A sevens team (''Shujaa'') and

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

also took part. Bristol University Select (a team put together from

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, Clifton RFC and the professional

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) returned to take part in the Safari Sevens yet again; they have participated in every Safari Sevens ever staged. Kenya won the competition beating the Emerging Boks in the final, 31–12. The continued increase in the number of people attending the event and this year's rise in admission caused many critics called for an upgrade in the quantity and quality of seating available for spectators. Nine nations took part in the 2009 event;

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

(who finished sixth in the IRB Sevens World Series this year),

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, Zambia and

. Other foreign teams included the perennial Bristol University Select from the UK, Hamilton Raiders RFC from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, Les Bleus Sevens from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and Western Province schoolboys. There was also a Kenyan invitation side ''the Chairman’s Select''. Other local entrants included various Kenya club veterans sides, ladies and schools teams. Kenya Harlequins won the veterans competition beating a Rift Valley Academy Veterans 17–5,

took the schools title with a 19–0 win over Nyanza, while Mwamba RFC I won the ladies title with a 54–0 win over Vivi. The refereeing cadre included the IRB elite referees

Wayne Barnes Wayne Barnes (born 20 April 1979) is an English international rugby union referee and barrister. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership, and has refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. At international lev ...

and David Rose of England.

2010-2012

The tournament, under title sponsorship from Kenyan mobile telephony giant

Safaricom Safaricom PLC is a listed Kenyan mobile network operator headquartered at Safaricom House in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya, and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region. Th ...

, became known as the Safaricom Sevens, was hosted for the last time at the RFUEA Ground in 2010,shifting to the 35,000 seater Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi for the 2011 and 2012 edition. The rationale for the venue shift was the exponential rise in crowd numbers, and the RFUEA's inability to host such crowds. Former World Rugby Sevens Series champions Samoa returned for the 2011 edition, winning the tournament for a second time with a 31-12 win over Samurai Sevens. South Africa Sevens Elite Player Development (EPD) squad which featured Justin Geguld who would later play on the HSBC Sevens World Series won the last tournament to be played at Nyayo, defeating the Kenya Morans coached by

Mike Friday Michael John "Mike" Friday (born April 25, 1972) has been the head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team since summer 2014. Friday was appointed head coach after the U.S. coach for the 2013–14 season, Matt Hawkins, was asked to ...

21-17.

2013-2014

When the

revealed that the 2013 tournament would be held at the 60,000 seater Safaricom Stadium located at the

in Kasarani, located in the Northern Suburbs of Nairobi, this announcement was met with skepticism by a section of "rugby diehards" for myriad reasons including the distance of the grandstands to the playing field amongst other factors. This mattered little as a massive marketing and publicity campaign fronted by title sponsors

drew in crowds to the Kasarani venue. It is estimated there were an approximate 48000 fans in the stadium on 21 September 2013, the first day of the tournament which featured quality sides in the form of the England Royals and Sevens World Series core sides Spain and Portugal. As the tournament proceeded, news filtered in about a terrorist attack at the Westgate Mall , located several kilometers away. The England Royals, featuring leading

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

player Matt Turner, withdrew from the tournament. This did not put a damper on the tournament as slightly over 20000 fans turned up to watch the final day of the tournament. Kenya Shujaa would beat the Australia Renegades 40-7 to claim the Robin Cahill Trophy , a win that they dedicated to the 67 lives lost at Westgate. Welsh Warriors defeated Argentina 24-17 to win the 2014 edition.

Tournament Decline 2015-2016

The tournament very nearly didn't take place in 2015 owing to governance issues at the

which led to the then title sponsors

pulling out. It did eventually take place to poor numbers at a venue that just a year earlier had attracted over 70000 fans over two days. Poor attendance returned to haunt the tournament in 2016 and it is envisaged that the

and its partners will work to woo the fans back to the tournament either via a venue change or a deliberate and aggressive marketing campaign while attracting quality international sides and introducing prize money to the event that was once billed as "Africa's Premier Rugby Sevens Event."

Tournament Postponement 2017

The Safari Sevens was postponed in 2017 due to "uncertainty in the prevailing political climate" according to the KRU. Kenya held

2017 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 8 August 2017 to elect the President, members of the National Assembly and Senate. They coincided with the 2017 Kenyan local elections which elected Governors and representatives in the devolved governmen ...

in August 2017 of which the results were disputed.

Tournament Comeback 2018-2019

The tournament was reinstated in 2018 at the RFUEA Ground. The 2019 edition of the tournament, with the title sponsorship of Tusker of

East African Breweries East African Breweries Limited, commonly referred to as EABL, is a Kenyan-based holding company that manufactures branded beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages. Overview The group's headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsi ...

, attracted the participation of the South Africa Blitzboks, one of the premier sevens teams in the

World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

, in addition to national teams from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, and Burundi, and club teams Samurai Select, Western Province (South Africa), Russia Academy, Seventise (France), Blue Bulls (Wales), and Narvskaya Zastava (Russia). The Kenya Morans beat the Bliztboks 19-14 in a thrilling final.

Table of Previous Winners

A list of results for all tournaments.

Notes

a. In 2000 Kenya won the right to host the Africa Zone Qualifying Tournament for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens Finals. Rather than cancel the Safari Sevens they combined both events into a three-day festival. The Kenya sevens side did not therefore take part in the Safari Sevens; ''Shujaa'' the Kenya 'A' side carried the hopes of the home crowd and did not disappoint, winning the cup.

External links

Safarisevens.com

Kenya look to the world stage

Safari Sevens Profile on UR7s

References

{{Coord, -1.301499, 36.771684, display=t, type:landmark Rugby sevens competitions in Africa International rugby union competitions hosted by Kenya Sport in Nairobi 1996 establishments in Kenya