The University of Johannesburg rugby men’s team were crowned champions of the Kings of Africa Rugby 7s championship at the Makerere University Kampala Uganda.

The University of Johannesburg beat Stellenbosch University 14-10 in the Rugby final, while the University of Pretoria’s Andre’ Snyman beat Bugema University’s Vincent Sanya 6-2, 6-0 in the men’s singles final.

The Ladies Singles final was a sibling’s affair between Stellenbosch’s Corine Olivier De Waal and Ane Lochner De Waal which the former won2-0 (6-3, 6-2).

In the men’s final, University of Pretoria’s Andre Snyman eased past Bugema University’s Vincent Sanya 6-2, 6-0. The loser could not match the South African’s speed and precision.

But it was the rugby action at the ‘Graveyard’ that caught much attention as hosts Makerere, fielding both and women’s teams battled 11 other universities for honours, and for a slot to represent Africa at the FISU University World Rugby Cup 2022 in Kazan, Russia, August 12-14, 2022.

That honour went to the University of Johannesburg who rallied from behind to grab the slim victory through Knanya Naisane and Tyreed February tries. Gabriel Solomans added the extras for the victors who had fallen behind to Stellenbosch’s Stefan Smit and Gustav September’s early tries in the final.

The victors displayed fast-paced action over the two days of competition that saw them dominate and run over Jomo Kenyatta University 33-5 in the quarter-finals which they followed with a 24-5 win over Kenyatta University in the semis.

“It was all down to hard work we kept on working and we were able to win and I would like to thank the Ugandans for everything they have done for this tournament. We hope to represent Africa well in Kazan and make Africa proud,” University of Johannesburg captain Mpho Kunbeka said.

Stellenbosch also registered a big 64-0 whitewash of MUBS in the quarters, and a 24-12 win over Daystar University in the semis before making the final.

In the women’s action, it was an all-South African affair with the University of Johannesburg running away with a 10-5 victory over the University of Pretoria through Musingisa Simango and Precious Maduchem’s tries. Makerere University women’s side finished third overall.

“It is such a blessing to win this tournament and I’m proud of my team. We came to this tournament expecting to win because we believed we deserved the title. We want to go Russia and show other teams that Rugby belongs to South Africa, and to the continent we promise to make you proud,” Sesihle Maguga the captain promised.

Quarterfinals

Stellenbosch 64 MUBS 0

University of Johannesburg 33 Jomo Kenyatta 5

Kenyatta 26 Makerere 12

USIU 0 Daystar 40

Semi-finals

Stellenbosch 24 Daystar 12

University of Johannesburg 24 Kenyatta 5

Final

Stellenbosch 10 Johannesburg 14

Women

University of Johannesburg 10 University of Pretoria 5

Tennis

Women Singles

Corine Olivier De Waal bt Ane Lochner De Waal 6-3, 6-2

Men’s Singles

Andre Snyman bt Vincent Sanya 6-2, 6-0