Rwanda national rugby team, Silverbacks will face DR Congo and Burundi in a new format for next year’s Africa Cup. Rwanda will feature in Africa Cup 2 South which will be held in Kigali in June next year with DR Congo and Burundi being the only participants. Elsewhere, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Madagascar will play in a round robin format of Africa Cup 1A instead of the traditional semi-final, final and playoff. In Africa Cup 1B, Uganda, Tunisia, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire will square in Tunis from June 9-14. In Africa 1C, Botswana, Morocco, Nigeria, Zambia, Mauritius and Swaziland will meet in Gaborone from June 14-21 while Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Niger will face off in Africa Cup 2 North in Ouagadougou from May 17-18. It is envisaged that the new format will ensure competitiveness and each team will play at least three matches against the top tier countries. Since introduction, four teams have faced off at the semi-final and final. In September, Silverbacks returned home a disappointed side after recording their worst ever performance in the annual Safaricom 7s tournament. The team registered its worst performance ever since making their debut in the tournament four years ago. Silverbacks lost all their preliminary games; 31-0 to South Africa’s Western Province, 62-0 to Kenya Shujaa and 24-12 against Kenyan side Mwamba. This threw them in the Jug trophy semi-final contest but they still lost to Uganda 35-5. Uganda went on to win the Jug final after defeating Kenya Home Boyz 33-0.
