It was superb performance by the two teams representing Kenya at the recent Africa cup sevens held in Mombasa over the weekend. Kenya was represented by two teams; Kenya B (Shujaa) and Kenya C (Chairmans Select). The main Kenya team (Kenya A) was left out of the tournament as they are preparing for the finals legs of the 2012-2013 IRB sevens series in London and Glasgow. This was also an opportunity for players who are knocking on the door of the Kenya A team to showcase their skills and get a call up. This included ace Humphrey Kayange who by his own admission, is not in the shape he was in say 2 years ago when he skippered team Kenya and was cited by New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens as one of the best players in the world.
Kenya results on day one were as follows :
Zimbabwe 14 Kenya C 10
Tunisia 7 Kenya B 21
Kenya C 21 Ivory Coast 0
Kenya B 34 Namibia 0
Morocco 7 Kenya C 17
Zambia 0 Kenya B 38
Day 2 results were as follows
Quarter Finals
Kenya B 21 Nigeria 5
Kenya C 14 Tunisia 17
Plate Semi Finals
Kenya C 22 Nigeria 0
Main Cup semi final
Kenya B 31 Tunisia 0
Final
Kenya B 24 Zimbabwe 19
All in all a superb performance by Kenya ; That they were able to win the tournament without Kenya A players like Collins Injera, Oscar Ouma, Willy Ambaka, Horace Otieno, Lavin Asego, et al demonstrates the depth in talent that Kenya has.
And keep in mind that not too long ago, teams like Morocco, Zimbabwe, Tunisia and sometimes Uganda ran roughshod over Kenya’s best players. In 1997, the Kenya sevens team with such top tier talents like Andrew Ondiek “Ndiri”, Manuel Okoth and Paul Murunga were pummeled by Tunisia by almost 50 points during the 1997 sevens world cup qualifier held in Tunisia. First forward to 2001 and Kenya was a vastly improved side when the world cup qualifiers arrived in Nairobi. Still the team led by Paul Murunga, Oscar Osir, Benjamin Ayimba , Kenndy Aswani et al were no match for Zimbabwe led by Kenyan defectee Victor Olonga. Zimbabwe won the final against Kenya who still qualified after finishing second. During that same qualfiers, Kenya had lost to Uganda in the preliminaries 19-7 much to the chagrin of Kenya fans. Since then however Uganda is no match for Kenya , be it Kenya A, Kenya B or Kenya C. Morocco was always a tough nut to crack for Kenya. And this time they were coached by Frenchman Christophe Rouchaleou who used to coach Kenya and were made up entirely of France based players. Nigeria were also based entirel of UK based players.
That the likes of Tunisia, Morocco, Zimbabwe etc used to routinely beat Kenya A yet can now be beaten by Kenya C speaks volumes of how much progress Kenya rugby sevens has made.
Kenya Rugby imetoka mbali
Indeed Kenya rugby sevens has improved in leaps and bounds since the 1990s when they were stumbling along talking about Kenya’s potential which was never going to be fulfilled. Kenya has not reached Canaan yet but if they do not rest on their laurels and continue improving, they will catch up with the likes of New Zealand. With good planning, 5-10 years from now, Kenya might be discussing how New Zealand and South Africa used to routinely beat Kenya 31-7 yet Kenya now beats them. Before you dismiss that as pie in the sky, remember that this is sevens. And Kenya sevens players are as goodas any. Since the 1970s, Kenya players have proven that they are just as talented as anyone from New Zealand, England or Fiji. In the 1970s it was Dennis Awori. In 1982, Beth Omollo and Joe Masiga wowed crowds at the Dubai sevens where Masiga finished as the top scorer while playing for Watembezi. Less than a decade later it was Edward Rombo who set crowds alight at the Singapore sevens and the Twickenham sevens finishing as the top scorer and player of the tournament ahead of New Zealand players some of whom were fully fledged all blacks.
So yes Kenya can go tops. KRFU as well as coaches like Ian Simiyu and Felix Ochieng has done well to develop the game. If they continue working at it, Kenya could very well win a medal at the 2016 Olympics and possible gold in 2020.
Support from the political class
The tournament was graced by top politicians from the Coast province. Most notable was newly elected governor Hassan Joho who expressed support for the tournament. He said, ” This is a very important event. Apart from promoting sports, it is also part of our plan to diversify the tourism sector. We need to introduce new areas of tourism and sports tourism is key for us.”
It is refreshing to see politicians finally realize how sports can be used to create employment and drive tourism. With his support, Kenya may finally build a stadium in Mombasa capable of hosting international tournaments, perhaps even a leg of the IRB sevens. Also in attendance was Kilifi governor, Amason Kingi
