Rwanda: Rugby - Lions De Fer, Ruhango Zebras Crowned Big Ant 7s Champions

By Eddie Nsabimana

Rwandan Rugby giants, Lions de Fer and Ruhango Zebras beat Kampala Rams and University of Rwanda Rukara respectively to win the inaugural edition of Big Ant Studios Rugby 7s International tournament in Kigali over the weekend.

Organized by the local Rugby governing body (RRF), the two-day tournament attracted 25 teams overall, including 16 men's teams and nine teams that competed in the women's category.

Men's finalists Kampala Rams were the only foreign team that participated in the tournament while Friends of Rwandan Rugby were the only new face in the local Rugby competitions.

The tournament kicked off Saturday, June 11, at Kacyiru Red Cross pitch, beginning with group stages as teams contested for tickets to the knock out stages. The men's teams were pooled in four groups while women's teams were pooled in two groups with two teams from each group qualifying to the group stages.

The knockout stages were played on Sunday with Lion de Fer going on to win the men's tournament after defeating Kampala Rams 19-10 in the final to win the trophy while Ruhango Zebras saw off UR Rukara with a comfortable 22 vs 00 victory to win the final.

The individual prizes went to Lions de Fer's Patrick Ikorukwishatse as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in men's category while Ruhango Zebras' Yvette Uwimpuhwe won the MVP in women's category.

Tharcisse Kamanda, the president of Rwanda Rugby federation, was impressed by the competitiveness that teams showed during the tournament and hopes progressive improvement puts Rwanda in the right position to impress at the Commonwealth Games.

"Rugby is one of the games that feature in the Commonwealth Games and with the performance showed by Rwandan teams throughout the tournament, we hope to produce the team that can perform well in these Games in the future," Kamanda said.

Sunday results

Men's final

Lion de Fer 19-10 Kampala Rams

Women's Final

Ruhango Zebras 22 vs 00 UR Rukara

This article originally appeared in the New Times