The Kenya Sevens rugby team left the country yesterday for the fourth and fifth legs of the 2022/2023 World Rugby Sevens Series in Hamilton, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia.
Things don’t look good for the country given the team’s position in the series standings, even though betting firm SportPesa has returned as the team’s shirt sponsor. Kenya Sevens is placed 14th with nine points after a poor run in the Hong Kong, Dubai and Cape Town legs of the series.
Head coach Damian McGrath and his charges have a fight in their hands, considering that 12 teams will be retained from the current season has 14 legs and 15 core teams for the new season.
The 15th-ranked team will be relegated at the penultimate leg in Toulouse, France, while the 12th, 13th and 14th-placed teams will engage in a Challenge in the final leg in London, with the winner staying for the new season.
In fact, Kenya’s participation at the 2024 Paris Olympics could be in jeopardy if South Africa fails to finish in the top four at the end of the Series since the two continental protagonists could meet in the Olympic continental qualifier.
However, the sideshows that hampered the team’s performance at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa in September in the three opening legs of the series have subsided.
The team knows the task ahead and we hope the players and the technical bench will concentrate on delivery, and that Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) will continue to engage other sponsors to join hands with SportPesa.
SportPesa’s return to sponsor the Kenya Sevens team for a period of three years in a Sh146 million deal will definitely bring stability to the team with sponsorship going directly to the players. This bodes well with the wishes of the fans, that players’ welfare is prioritised.
We need to remind KRU that lack of transparency and financial accountability is what kept sponsors away but we hope the return of SportPesa should signify a new beginning.
Kenya Sevens, Kenya 15s and the national women’s team Kenya Lionesses are top brands that can attract sponsorship if well marketed.
