CAR RUGBY TOURNAMENTS 2010

CAR (The Confederation of Africa Rugby) is the controlling body of African rugby. It operates under the IRB umbrella

Action in the Ivory Coast v Uganda match, 2004.

Tournaments schedule for 2010

Africa Cup, Round 1
Pool A: To be held in Tunis, Tunisia 15-19 June
Teams-Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast

Pool B: Venue and dates TBC
Teams-Kenya, Uganda, Cameroun, Zambia

Pool C: To be held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, June 27-July 4
Teams-Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Namibia, Botswana

Finals: Venue and date TBC-Will be in November
Teams-Pool winners and best runner up

Ivory Coast in action against Senegal, May 2007. Ivory Coast won 12-10. Image thanks to http://rugbivoire.midiblogs.com

CAR Trophy
North Pool: Venue Niamey, Niger 17-27 July
Teams-Niger, Mali, Burkino Faso, Benin, Niger, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Congo

Central Pool: Venue-Burundi; Dates TBC
Teams-Burundi, Rwanda, Congo DR

South Pool: Venue Arush, Tanzania, 14-19 June
Teams-Tanzania, Reunion, Mauritius, Swaziland

CAR Development Trophy

North Pool: Venue and dates TBC
Teams-Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt

Egypt at the Dubai 7's, 2007. Image thanks to http://www.rugbyegypt.com.

Central Pool: Venue-Gabon; Dates TBC
Teams-Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad

The tournament reflects the three tiers of African rugby. The first tier being the Africa Cup. Last year the Africa Cup also billed as qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup Finals. Namibia qualified.

The second tier is the CAR Trophy. In this tier it's surprising to see two teams who are yet to play international rugby; Congo and Congo DR. I would have thought they would be in the development phase. I'm also surprised to see Burundi and Rwanda in this league. Their standard would be somewhat below that of Tanzania.

The Third tier plays for the Development Trophy. Only Mauritania and Chad have previous test experience. But with this and the second tier, teams pull out regularly. Africa is a huge continent. Travel is a nightmare, costly and simply prohibitive for many developing nations. But Africa is also where we have seen the most development and progress in the last 10 years.

The Niger team performs their 'haka' before a game at the CAR Development Trophy, held in Tsevie, Togo. Image thanks to http://www.freewebs.com/zebus/apps/photos/album?albumid=6757333