Kenya Rugby Union urged to invest in young talent to revive Kenya 7s success

Kenya 7s poor performance at the HSBC World Series this season has had fans concerned, wondering what happened to the once successful side. Kenya made a decent showing at Vancouver, finishing in 10th place to move up to 13th in the World Series.

According to World Rugby’s new streamlined series, only the top 12 teams will stay in the World Series, with the rest having to play in a lesser Challenger Series next season. Shujaa will face one of their toughest tasks at the Hong Kong 7s on March 32- April 02 as they struggle to climb to the top 12 teams for the HSBC World 7s Series and avoid dropping to the newly formed challenger series.

Shujaa have been placed in a tricky pool that sees them face ninth-placed Ireland, New Zealand who are log leaders, and South Africa. Shujaa stunned the Blitzboks last leg and they will undoubtedly be a difficult opponent.

Speaking to Mozzart Sport after the Inter County games at St Peters Mumias where Koyonzo High School hit Kakamega School 33-9, former Kenya 7s Director Sasha Mutai blamed the dire situation on financial constraints.

Shujaa stun South Africa to progress to 9th place semifinal

“The problem is financial support to the team. We had about all these issues where they had not been paid but now the payments are starting to come in because the sponsor came back in,” Sasha told Mozzart Sport.

Shujaa had turned to online fundraisers as they had gone without pay for months before they received a major financial boost.

Damian Mc Grath’s charges also missed the services of Alvin Buffa during the opening legs of the series. The forward is known for his fearless and massive tackles and attacks. The retirement of senior players like Willy Ambaka was a major setback for the side. It was difficult to replace such individuals.

Mutai insisted on the need to re-invest in rugby and capitalize on young talents.

Shujaa stun South Africa to progress to 9th place semifinal

“The situation is dire right now. We are in 13th place in the world but I know with a few tricks we hope to survive. We need to put back the investment. When we were running Kenya 7s, we had a budget of $2 million (approximately Ksh 258,600,000). Right now, it is not even a quarter of that. We need to come back and bring the support, the finances, and assist with all the coaching and all other technical areas,” Sasha revealed.

Sasha Mutai was the Kenya 7s Director for four years and also served as the Vice Chairman of the Union. The aspiring KRU Chairman believes that the future of Kenya Rugby is young talent.

“Rugby should be embedded in the school curriculum for primary schools, and for secondary schools, we want to have the Kenya National Secondary School National Team where we have the best girls and boys coming together, we’ll have a championship.

“The style of play for Kenya has to come from the grassroots. We have to have national team coaches coming in attached to schools and their coaches to coach how Kenya plays,” Sasha noted.

The teams ranked 12th, 13th, and 14th at the end of Toulouse will enter a four-team relegation play-off together with the Challenger Series 2023 winners at the eleventh and final round of the series in London.

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