After three days of the Rugby World Cup Sevens, it is time for Rugby Africa to take stock.

Six African teams met in the land of rugby, Cape Town, South Africa. On the men’s side, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa competed. On the women’s side, Madagascar and South Africa proudly represented our continent.

While some of the teams are experienced and used to major rugby sevens competitions, others were venturing into the unknown. For all of them, participating in a World Cup remains a consecration and a memory engraved forever in their minds.

After three wins out of four matches, Uganda won the Bowl Final. Michael Wokorach captain of Uganda Sevens team said: “”It is absolutely my proudest moment. Also, winning the Africa Cup is one of my proudest. Beating Germany for the first time ever and beating Hong Kong are very proud moments for me as captain and for this team.” That’s how much these moments mean to our African teams.

We have mixed results with the scores, indeed some teams were hoping for more. At Rugby Africa, we are very proud of our players and of the progress made. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to see the Malagasy team playing matches in the World Cup. However, they played 4 matches and won the last one against Colombia. They made a whole nation proud.

African rugby is a story. A story of will, self-sacrifice and love of the jersey. Our ambassadors have once again demonstrated this and we can only be delighted. There is still a long way to go, but we know where we have come from and where we are going.

With the unfailing support of World Rugby and SARU, Rugby Africa and its unions are moving forward, developing and intend to redouble their efforts before the next World Cup.