The technical benches of Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso will be busy clicking on their calculators come the second day of the Rugby Africa Sevens tournament that concludes in Mauritius on sunday.

This is because, a possible qualification for next year’s World Rugby Challenger Series will be on the line with the top two teams in this tournament booking their tickets. Only Kenya’s Morans and South Africa are out of the equation.

Uganda’s Rugby Cranes won the first tournament and collected 20 points with Madagascar collecting 18. After the first day matches on Saturday, the two teams remained in contention by topping their pools to reach the cup quarter final. They are unlikely to meet after being drawn on the opposite ends with Madagascar on the upper half and Uganda the bottom half.

Simple equation

The simple equation is that they must keep winning to keep their chances alive otherwise Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe can join in the fray because after the final whistle, the cumulative points for both legs shall count towards the final tally.

Madagascar have a seemingly easy fixture against a vastly improved Tunisian side in the quarter final while Uganda are also drawn against Zambia. Burkina Faso have an uphill task against South Africa while Zimbabwe believe Kenya Morans are beatable.

A win for Zimbabwe will see them boost their chances by meeting Uganda in the semis. A loss will dent their chances of playing in the Challenger Series. Should Kenya Morans beat Zimbabwe, they are likely to face familiar adversaries Uganda in the cup semis. There is all to play for on the second day.

Contrasting styles

Kenya Morans and Rugby Cranes of Uganda reached the knockout stage in contrasting styles. Rugby Cranes topped Pool A ahead of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Tunisia while Morans played a second fiddle to Madagascar for the second time in as many tournaments in Pool B that also had Zambia and Algeria.

Morans threw away a golden chance to turn the tables on Makkis opting for a scrum instead of going for points after they were awarded a penalty in front of the upright six minutes into the golden point play. Madagascar needed no second invitation scoring at the corner to top the pool.

The teams had tied 19-19 after regulation time. It was Madagascar who were quick off the blocks scoring two unanswered tries, one of which was converted for a 12-0 lead. Kenya scored a converted try just before the break to narrow the scores 12-7 in Makkis’ favor.

In the second half, Madagascar were reduced to six players but defended tenaciously before Harmony Wamalwa breached their ranks to touch down. Denis Abukuse added the extras for Morans to lead 14-12 for the first time.

Red zone

But Madagascar were not letting off after Morans allowed the ball to bounce in the red zone and Makkis struck back to take a 19-14 lead. 

Abukuse restored parity with a try at the corner.

Morans stayed on the pitch as Makkis walked away believing a draw was enough before they were called back. Kenya started promisingly and in the sixth minute forced three successive penalties, the last that was in front of the posts. When they opted for a scrum, Madagascar gained possession and hacked the ball forward from which they scored.

Earlier, Morans blanked Algeria 47-0 with tries by Wamalwa (2), Gabriel Ayimba, William Mwanji (2), Abukuse and Festus Shiasi. Abukuse added four conversions while Wamalwa and Shiasi converted one each.

Topped Pool A

Uganda’s Rugby Cranes topped Pool A. They followed their 36 win over Tunisia by edging out Burkina Faso 14-10 in the second match. Adrian Kasito opened the scoring for the Rugby Cranes and Aaron Oforywroth converted for a 7-0 lead. Alex Aturinda was next over and Timothy Kisiga converted to stretch the lead 14-0.  

They were unable to score any more points in the second half allowing Burkina Faso to breach their try line twice through Adama Deme and Abdoul Passi. Earlier Uganda beat Ivory Coast 29-12.

In the first session, the Rugby Cranes kicked off their campaign with a 36-0 win over Tunisia. Oforywroth opened the scoring for the Ugandans with an unconverted try before Timothy Kasiga added the second. Denis Etwau scored the third try which Oforywroth converted for a 17-0 lead at half time.

Added three tries

In the second half, the Rugby Cranes added three more tries. Adrian Kasito stretched the lead with the opening try in this half and Etwau completed his brace. Oforywroth converted to stretch the lead 29-0. 

Etwau completed his hat trick and Oforywroth converted for the champions to shake off jitters of the first match.

Zimbabwe kicked off the weekend by beating hosts Mauritius in the first match before South Africa overran Nigeria 45-7. The third match saw Kenya Morans struggle to beat Zambia 26-7. They dominated the exchanges in the first half before taking their foot off the gas pedal in the second. Harmony Wamalwa scored three tries  and Joel Inzuga one. 

Results

Pool A: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Tunisia.

 Burkina Faso 29 Ivory Coast 12, Uganda 36 Tunisia 0, Burkina Faso 19 Tunisia 14, Uganda 29 Ivory Coast 12, Tunisia 31 Ivory Coast 12, Uganda 14 Burkina Faso 10, 

Pool B: Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria.

Zambia 7 Kenya 26, Madagascar 33 Algeria 7, Kenya 0 Algeria 47, Madagascar 40 Zambia 5, Zambia 33 Algeria 0, Madagascar 24 Kenya 19. 

Pool C: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Nigeria

Zimbabwe 31 Mauritius 7, South Africa 45 Nigeria 7, Nigeria 5 Zimbabwe 29, Mauritius 0 South Africa 43, Zimbabwe 12 South Africa 24, Nigeria 24 Mauritius 5.

Cup quarter finals

Madagascar v Tunisia, Burkina Faso v South Africa, Kenya v Zimbabwe, Uganda v Zambia.
Ninth place semi-finals: Algeria v Nigeria, Ivory Coast v Mauritius.