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Namibia’s international sevens is hanging in the balance due to differences between the sponsors and the rugby union.

Last September saw the inauagral running of the event with Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, Zimbabwe all involved at Windhoek.

Trustco Group International, the sponsors of the event, has reportedly accused the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) of breach of contract and a failure to repay loans. As UR7s reported last year, Trustco backed the new event with a N$18 million sponsorship deal that was supposed to last for six years.

The two parties were set to hold talks in a bid to resolve the matter, but these have been put on hold. It is a worrying time for the cash-strapped NRU who have invested money into the tournament and on their own Sevens team and were hoping for to expand the event.

The 2009 event saw reigning IRB Sevens winners South Africa beat Zimbabwe's Cheetahs 61-14 for the title.

Zambia’s Lusaka Castle Sevens moved

THE Zambia Rugby Football Union (ZRFU) has confirmed dates for this year's Lusaka Castle 7s has been moved to from its standard mid-June date to late August. This was to avoid expected clashes with the FIFA World Cup that will dominant the continent throughout June.

Instead the tournament has been moved to the weekend August 28-29, despite being the same weekend as golf’s Zambia Open, part of South Africa’s Sunshine Tour.

ZRFU president Raj Karamachand assured fans yesterday that the sponsors were happy with the date move and that the clash wouldn’t harm the event.