NAIROBI, Kenya, June 16 – The national rugby sevens team will open their defence of their Tusker Safari Sevens title against South African outfit Western Province Raiders in the first game of the tournament on Saturday.
Raiders replaced Namibia who withdrew at the last minute due to their Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) fixture with Ivory Coast.
Kenya who are the tourney’s top seeds will play the Raiders at 9 a.m. before locking horns with East African rivals Tanzania at noon and then round off their Pool A skirmishes against Japan at 4 p.m.
National second team Shujaa face an acid in Pool C where they will line up against former champions Emerging Boks, Samurai and Morocco.
Samoa who will be making their second appearance at Africa’s premier sevens rugby event take on France, Uganda and a Chairman’s select side.
The South Pacific Island Nation has been a shadow of themselves in the 2008/2009 International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens series where they finished in seventh place, 24 points behind Kenya.
Pool D is made up of perennial competitors Zimbabwe, Bristol University, Zambia and French side Grenoble.