Nakuru — With the National Sevens Series returning after a break, Prinsloo 7s, which is the next stop has received a Ksh 1 million sponsorship from betting firm SportPesa.

Dubbed the Prinsloo 7s, the tournament which is named after the honour of South African Pete Walter Prinsloo, this year's edition will run its 14th edition from Friday August 4-6 at its traditional Nakuru Athletic Club.

Speaking during a briefing at the Nakuru Athletics Club, the Prinsloo 7s Tournament Director Edward Moseti noted that up to 40 teams have confirmed attendance of this year's tournament, to participate in age grade competition, the ladies' category, the men's Division 1 and 2 categories.

"This will be one of the biggest convergences on a weekend of high-octane rugby action. Nakuru is ready to host rugby fans and sports lovers to the city that boasts diverse culture and heritage," said Moseti.

Pitching the ladies' category for the first time since the beginning of the SportPesa 7s circuit, the winners of the women category will have 100,000 shillings up for grabs as part of the 325,000 total tournament prize money that is part of the SportPesa sponsorship.

Flanked by the CEC Sports for Nakuru County Josephine Achieng and the Kenya Rugby Union CEO Thomas Odundo, the organizers of the Prinsloo 7s have given assurance of competitiveness of the game as part of the recovery plans to get the SportPesa-sponsored Shujaa to get back to the World Rugby HSBC series.

"With 4 more tournaments to go in the SportPesa National 7s Circuit, we will see up to 400 players competing in active rugby and the game can only grow further from the initial 4 tournaments circuit to a 6 tournaments leg," noted Thomas.

The SportPesa National 7s circuit then proceeds to Nairobi then Eldoret before the finals seeing the Kabeberi 7s.

The Sports CEC reiterated the county's preparedness to host the thousands of fans making their way to Nakuru Athletics Club for the weekend.