Following the recent developments that saw World Rugby ‘restructure’ the seven-a-side competition by adopting an elitist eight-team format competition from the 2025/2026 season, the time is ripe for regional organisations to invest in their own tournaments.

Tolbert Onyango, who recently stepped down as coach of Uganda Sevens team after more than 10 years in charge said the only logical step forward for Africa was to invest in a circuit that could be a catalyst to developing and maintaining 7s competition. The rationale he stated was that other regions such as Europe and Asia already have similar arrangements.

Although the former Kenya scrum-half envisaged logistical and financial difficulties in ensuring such a circuit was viable, it was worth a try because there have been discussions for a long time now. Traveling within Africa is much more expensive than in Europe or Asia and only shrewd marketing and an acceptable model could see the fruition of an Africa circuit.

Two Scenarios

There are two scenarios which could be considered by Rugby Africa. The first one is by aligning the competition according to already existing tournaments such as Safari Sevens (in Kenya), Victoria Falls (in Zimbabwe), Mosi Sevens (Zambia) and an additional legs in Madagascar or Mauritius, Tunisia or Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast or Senegal. 

The second scenario is to organize regional tournaments in West, North, East and Central Africa as well as Mauritius and Madagascar with the two top teams meeting at a central venue for an Africa Sevens Championship. In both scenarios, every host would be required to ensure there is a women’s event which is aligned with Onyango’s suggestion and hopes for an Africa Sevens Circuit.

Onyango, in an exclusive interview with www.thesportsnewsarena.com was confident he has left Uganda Sevens team in a good space. “The national sevens circuit is quite competitive and strong and full of emerging talent. Young people have become hooked to 7’s which is a good sign,” he noted. His take is that the momentum should be maintained by keeping the faith alive.

Six-month Process

The decision to step down as coach of the national team has been a six-month process. “It was a decision to step aside so that someone else can continue,” Onyango stated while reflecting on some of the highs and lows during his tenure. Crucial to running a successful 7s program has been full of challenges because of the caliber of players who are mostly students and employees. A coach and the technical bench have to manage these expectations whole the administration strings in the support system.

Such a support system ensures the resources are shared between the 7s and 15s teams, the players have adequate support resources and play in many competitive tournaments. During his time as coach, Onyango has had to deal with sharing resources with the 15’s team. “It feels like someone is pulling the rug from under your feet when some of the players are called up to the 15’s side,” he admitted. But he quickly acknowledged this was common among second tier teams.

Changes in 7s

One of the memories that Onyango reflects on is how much the 7s game has changed. “It is more physical, tactical and fast. The size of the players and their ability to maintain intensity is admirable. Sometimes you have smaller but strong players who are capable of doing a lot of extra work,” the coach explained. But, the biggest change has been in the format announced by World Rugby that splits elitist teams and second as well as third tier teams.

As Onyango took a bow from the national limelight, he reflected on some of the highs and lows during his time as coach. Winning the Africa Cup in 2016 and for the first time in 2017 at home were high on his list. Equally important was playing at the then Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2018 in San Francisco and 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Other included playing as an invitational team in the World Rugby Sevens World Series from 2016 that culminated to winning the All Africa Games in Accra, Ghana in 2024 where rugby sevens was played for the first time. But with the highs, came the lows.

Token Tournaments

The biggest one was failure to qualify for the World Rugby Sevens World Series which was a result of playing in token tournaments that exposed how much work Uganda Sevens needed to do to match the top-tier teams. Besides the Africa championships and occasional invitation tournaments, Uganda Sevens were unable to compete at the highest level. This was also because most of the players were amateurs splitting their time between rugby, studies and regular jobs.

As a parting shot, Onyango says 7s rugby has emerged as a favorite on the Uganda sporting scene and attracted government, community, and corporate support. Some players have landed good contracts outside the country which has made it attractive to younger players. He joins Heathens Rugby Club as head coach.