NAIROBI, Kenya, September 12 – National rugby 7s team coach Kelvin ‘Bling’ Wambua says they will not treat any team lightly when they take to the field this weekend for the Rugby Africa 7s in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Wambua said his first target for Shujaa is to win all their Pool B matches against Zambia, Namibia and Nigeria as they seek to make their third consecutive appearance at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
“I know everyone here is thinking about South Africa but we have to win all our pool matches first. So our approach is quite simple…we have our individual and team profiles for our opponents. In terms of our approach is to take it one game at a time and treat each match as a final,” Wambua said.
The coach revealed that the mood in the camp is at an all-time high as his charges are raring to go and redeem Kenya’s image that was dented following Shujaa’s relegation from the World Rugby 7s Series in May this year.
“We want to be in a position where we can top our pool at the end of day one so we get a favourable draw in the quarters. The boys believe they can do it…they believe they can go all the way and that is good because the first step to fulfilling a dream is to believe you can do it. The players know what to do and all is left now is show the world what we can do when the time comes,” he said.
Wambua was speaking in the aftermath of naming a 12-man squad expected to fly the national flag in the Zimbabwean capital.
He described the team as perfectly balanced by virtue of including newcomers as well as those who have been there and done that.
“We have six players who played in last season’s World Rugby 7s Series and those who are coming in for the first time. It is very important to give the boys confidence because we believe we have the ability to take on the rest of Africa,” Wambua said.
Echoing Wambua’s sentiments was Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chair Alexander ‘Sasha’ Mutai who promised the body’s support for Shujaa as they seek to once again dine at the high table with the big boys of sevens rugby.
“It’s a hard…it’s a hard journey to get back to the top but we are very confident. The union is going to provide the resources for this team and we are pretty confident we are going to qualify,” Mutai said.
The team will be co-captained by Kenya Commercial Bank’s (KCB) Vincent Onyala and Mwamba RFC’s Tony Omondi.
