Junior Silverbacks to compete in Kenya Safaricom Open

Rwanda Under-19 men’s Sevens rugby team will compete in this year’s Kenya Safaricom junior rugby Open scheduled for September 20-21 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Rwanda Under-19 men’s Sevens rugby team will compete in this year’s Kenya Safaricom junior rugby Open scheduled for September 20-21 in Nairobi, Kenya.The development was confirmed by the Rwanda Rugby Federation vice chairman Alex Alaire on Monday. He said, "Our junior team will compete in this year’s Kenya Safaricom Open in Nairobi.”"The team was invited to compete again in the tournament after making an impressive first appearance last year by finishing second,” he added.It will be the second appearance for the  junior side after making their debut in last year’s edition where they finished first runners-up behind hosts Kenya.Juniors’ tournament will attract six countries namely, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.The 12-man squad is currently undergoing rigorous preparations in a residential camp in Kamonyi District, South Province under the close eye of the senior Silverbacks head coach Simeli Mucevacaka—the Fijian is in charge of all national teams.The tournament is contested by junior players from secondary schools as way of developing them and in Rwanda’s case; the team was selected from different rugby playing schools in the country.They include; Nyagatare secondary school, APE Rugunga, ET Mukingi, Lycee de Kigali, ES Gikongo, Saint Famille SS. The team is set to depart for Nairobi on September 18 and return five days later.The junior team also received invitation to take part in the Uganda Independence Day tournament set for October 10 in Kampala.