By ELIAS CHIPEPO –

THE national rugby thrill  returns  to the Copperbelt today when Ndola Wanderers Club hosts the 2014 Ndola Sevens Championship where K6,000 is at stake for the winners.
Fourteen teams from the Zambia Rugby Union (ZRU) national leagues will participate in the one-day event.
Red Arrows, who won the Heroes Sevens last weekend in Kabwe, will be eyeing to add a third cup trophy of the season after jointly winning the KPF American tournament with ‘Men At Work’ Diggers.
Diggers have also won the MTN American tournament and the Owen Busange Sevens while ‘Powerhouse’ Lusaka are the Nchanga 10’s champions.
ZRU executive committee member Moono Muleya said K6, 000 had been set aside for the winners while the losing finalists were assured of K4, 000.
Adding spice to the event, there will also be a trophy for the Player of the Tournament.
Muleya, who is also ZRU head of competitions, said in an interview that the tournament would see clubs only fighting for the main cup as a way of encouraging competition.
She said on several occasions some clubs opt to drop into the Plate finals, the second tier of the competition, but that the organising committee this time around wanted all the teams to battle for the top prize.
Muleya paid tribute to companies that have come on board to help stage the competition among them First Quantum Minerals (FQM), Ozark Things and G4S Security firm and appealed to other companies to come on board and help raise the K35, 000 budget.
“The club is ready to host the tournament and we are happy that the prize money has been raised and we expect a good and competitive tournament from the clubs.
“As ZRU, we are also happy that these seven’s tournaments are helping us come up with a strong sevens team owing to a number of competitions held so far,” she said.