Rwanda has been given the green light to host the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) 15s after Burundi pulled out of hosting the tourney due to insecurity in the country.

The one week tourney, which will run from October 30 to November 7 was originally supposed to be held in Bujumbura but the Burundian rugby federation declined to host the annual competition, and Rwanda was picked as the replacement hosts.

The vice president of the Rwanda Rugby Federation Alex Araire, who is also in-charge of marketing, told Times Sport that the federation needs Frw15m to organize a succesfull tournament, which is expected to attract three teams including DR Congo, Burundi and hosts Rwanda.

"It is a CAR tournament, which is supposed to be financed by the Continental body but they usually send little money, so we need to look for other alternatives.

"We are still waiting for their contribution and the Government’s input, and then we start contacting other corporate companies to see what they can chip in with,” said Araire.

Rwanda has won the tournament for the past two years and Silverbacks head coach Gerald Nsenga reckons that his team is still favourites to defend their title.

"We have a strong team that we are confident in to defend the title. Home advantage will also be crucial to our target of retaining the trophy,” noted Nsenga.

Silverbacks have been impressive this year after reaching the Bowl finals of Kwoloo 10s in Hong Kong, and the Prestigious Safari sevens in Kenya.

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