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, and .[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]
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 in this tournament.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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, , joined them for this, their first trip to Nairobi.
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
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.
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.
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.
Kenya
Samoa
Zimbabwe
Uganda
Emerging Springboks
Spain
Namibia
