The Rugby Patrons Society decided to put in place a seven-a-side tournament and invite a number of foreign national and club teams to participate.

Robin Cahill (a founder member of the society and the man whose brainchild the tournament is) led a team of Patrons to run all the early competitions and oversee its integration into the Kenya Rugby Union's calendar.

[3] Since then the tournament attracted the likes of London Irish, Emerging Springboks, Fiji, Japan, Western Province, Argentina, Golden Lions, Belgium Barbarians.

[4][2] The tournament has attracted a variety of international rugby players and coaches including Naas Botha in 1999, Waisale Serevi and Gordon Tietjens.

[5] The 13th edition of the Safari Sevens saw a rise in the gate fee of KSh200 per person to KSh800, in addition the weather was colder than usual but this did not produce any reduction in the crowds.

National teams taking part were Botswana, Emerging Springboks, France A (Les Blues), Japan, Namibia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Nine nations took part in the 2009 event; Botswana, Japan, Kenya (who finished sixth in the IRB Sevens World Series this year), Morocco, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Other foreign teams included the perennial Bristol University Select from the UK, Hamilton Raiders RFC from South Africa, Les Bleus Sevens from France, and Western Province schoolboys.

When the Kenya Rugby Union revealed that the 2013 tournament would be held at the 60,000 seater Safaricom Stadium located at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, located in the Northern Suburbs of Nairobi, this announcement was met with skepticism by a section of "rugby diehards" for myriad reasons including the distance of the grandstands to the playing field amongst other factors.

Kenya Shujaa would beat the Australia Renegades 40-7 to claim the Robin Cahill Trophy, a win that they dedicated to the 67 lives lost at Westgate.

The tournament very nearly didn't take place in 2015 owing to governance issues at the Kenya Rugby Union which led to the then title sponsors Safaricom pulling out.

Poor attendance returned to haunt the tournament in 2016 and it is envisaged that the Kenya Rugby Union and its partners will work to woo the fans back to the tournament either via a venue change or a deliberate and aggressive marketing campaign while attracting quality international sides and introducing prize money to the event that was once billed as "Africa's Premier Rugby Sevens Event."