Kenya Morans lifted the 2019 Tusker Safari Sevens trophy after beating South Africa 19-14 at the RFUEA Grounds on 20th October.
Geoffrey Okwach landed the first try of the match after he rounded his defender to score right under the posts with Johnstone Olindi adding the extras for a 7-0 Morans’ lead in the opening minute. The two sides would then exchange visits to each others territory for the better part of the match as they displayed pure class in their attack and defense. Captain Jeffrey Oluoch went over the whitewash for his team’s second try as he fended off his defenders on his way to the try line. The conversion drifted wide for a 12-0 lead. At the stroke of halftime, Olindi pounced on a lose ball that set up Alvin Otieno to land the third try followed by a successful conversion. Morans leading 19-0.
The second half saw Morans prove to the world that their defensive skills were making a difference in the team’s performance. However despite the effort, Blitzboks managed to land two tries in this half through Cameron Hufke and Luyanda Sandiso. Hufke converted his own try while Darren Adonis added the extras to Luyanda’s try.
As South Africa drilled in their second conversion, the referee blew his whistle marking the end of the match as the reserve Morans’ players ran onto the pitch to celebrate with their counterparts. The thousands of fans round the pitch were not left behind in the celebrations as they went wild in support of this young team.
“We just played our structures in the final, the big boys did their job of running hard at the Boks’ defense allowing the back line to have enough room to execute their moves that presented the opportunities for us to score,” said Captain Jeffrey Okwach.
“I’m happy with the two teams’ performances this weekend. Shujaa won easily yesterday as they topped the Pool and only conceded one try. Injera’s injury was a big blow to the side earlier this morning but the still put up a great performance nonetheless. The Morans lost to South Africa yesterday in the pool stages and for them to come back and pull off such a performance in the final just shows how far Kenyan Rugby can go. We now have depth in our squad with the return of some of the senior players,” added the Technical Director, Paul Feeney.
Shujaa lifted the Bronze title after beating Russia Academy 19-5. French based team that’s currently coached by former Kenya International Teddy Omondi, Seventise lifted the fifth place trophy after seeing off the defending Champions 19-10 while Western Province’s performance saw them beat Uganda Cranes 29-12 to claim the #TuskerSafari7s Challenge Trophy. Blue Bulls beat Narvskaya Zastava 38-21 in the 13th place final.
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