Silverbacks face Western Province in opener

Pool E, MorningWestern Province vs Rwanda 9:58amShujaa vs Mwamba 10:20am AfternoonWestern Province vs Mwamba 1:39pmShujaa vs Rwanda 2pm Rwandas national senior rugby side, Silverbacks open their 2013 Kenya Safaricom 7s title chase today with two tough matches against two of the pre-tournament favourites at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi. The Silverbacks, who are placed in Pool E, face South Africa’s league side, Western Province at 9:58am local time before taking on Kenyan side Shujaa at 2pm. Host team Shujja, is most observers’ favourite to win the group and their only formidable challenge will be Western Province and to some extent, fellow Kenyan side Mwamba, who are former national champions. Elsewhere, top seeds Kenya Morans are determined to better their last year’s placing in the Safaricom Safari Sevens with victory for their seventh cup success. Newcomers Australia Renegades are second seeds and will highlight Pool B that has Uganda, national champions Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Top Fry Nakuru while the 1998 and 2011 losing finalists Samurai International are in Pool C with Belgium, Kenya Academy and Impala. Other debutants England Royals that has several internationals are in Pool D alongside Grenobles, Kenya Harlequin and Homeboyz. Last year, Morans ploughed to the final before losing to South Africa Elite Development Programme side formerly Emerging Springboks 17-21. The victory completed a hat trick for the South Africans, who had previously won in 2006 and 2007 but they will not be defending their title. The schools’ competition kicked off yesterday and by press time, results involving the junior Silverbacks were not known.