The UP-TuksRuby men’s sevens team qualified to play in the quarterfinals of the Christies Sevens Tournament in Nairobi this morning. 

Andries Kruger (UP-Tuks coach) is quietly confident that his players will do what needs to be done to secure a victory. 

“We did not have the best of starts yesterday. In our first game, we lost 26-7 against Megengai Cream Homeboys who is the Tournament’s log leaders. We did not play well. The players seemed slightly sluggish.  I guess it was to be expected as it was the first game this season they played while the Homeboys have already contested five tournaments.

“Before our second game, Dabeon (Draghoender) and I explained to the players where they have erred, and we practised a few things. It seemed to work as we won our second game against Top Fry Nakuru 40-7. The players were more confident in the way they went about executing moves.

“The third game was a humdinger. I am impressed with how the team managed to keep their cool to secure a 21-19 victory against the Menegai Oilers.”

Stefan Smit was according to Kruger, their best player. WS Strydom who played for the Blitz Boks from 2012 to 2014 also impressed. Hanco Sipsma was another key player.

"Hanco is a real speedster. Once he got the ball in hand, it takes some doing to stop him,” said Kruger.

UP-Tuks will be playing against Stanbic Mwamba, who is currently the fourth best team in the Christie Sevens League. Kickoff is at 10:20.