Kenya Rugby Sevens national team coach Treu urges senior players to rescind their decision

Kenya national rugby sevens team arrival at jomo keyatta international airport from australia from left kenya national rugby sevens team Muga Leonard,Bush Mwale and Felix Ochieng during there arrival at the jomo keyatta international airport on tuesday morning from the 1st leg of HSBC Rugby series in gold coast in australia.PHOTO DAVID GICHURU

In a shocking twist, Kenya Rugby Sevens national team coach Paul Treu has extended an olive branch to the senior players on strike.

Stating that already the union is working hard behind the scenes to ensure that things work out between the senior players and their contractual obligations, Treu said, “We all make mistakes, whether it is the union or the players or us as the technical bench, there is a way in which we deal with things, no one is perfect.

"We would like to talk about our differences and create an environment where our players can perform because ultimately, it is about the players.

Kenya national rugby sevens team coach Paul Treu during his arrival l at the jomo keyatta international airport on tuesday morning with the team from the 1st leg of HSBC Rugby series in gold coast in australia.PHOTO DAVID GICHURU

"They are our biggest assets and if we do not have them in the pitch then we cannot play.”

The former South African Sevens coach added that with the qualification for the Rio Olympics at stake, the technical bench will have to select from the strongest team.

The senior players in the sevens team went on strike in September after a standoff with the union over medical cover and contractual obligations forcing Treu to leave the disgruntled players out of the team that travelled to Australia.

Speaking at the JKIA, on arrival from Australia, Treu said the new crop of players achieved commendable results both individually and as a team in Gold Coast during the first leg of the IRB Series.
“Going to Gold Coast, we did not know what to expect given the limited time that I had with the players. We were all talking about Kenya having immense and untapped talents at the club that needed to be given an opportunity. We may be disappointed, but this is the team that Kenya will depend on in future.”

With top-notch players on strike, Treu was forced to quickly assemble a junior side for Safaricom Sevens and Gold Coast Sevens an act the team captain Andrew Amonde described as the most difficult time.

“It was not easy and maybe we expected a lot from the boys. I did not know what they could do until we got to the pitch and once there, we were just trying new tactics. We are building for a new and better future. We need to fix the standoff and have the senior players back in the team,” said Amonde.

Amonde’s sentiments were echoed by Treu. “My squad has only 47 caps taking on a team like South Africa that has over 260 caps. Do you expect them to compete effectively against New Zealand who have over 300 caps. It is difficult."

With seven debutants, Kenya only managed to beat a little known American Samoa 42-0 in their opening match and later dismissing Japan 17-15 in the Shield semi-final.
The team will resume training next week on Wednesday in preparations for the second leg of the series to be played in Dubai from December 5 to 6, 2014.

Kenya has been placed in group C headed by England as the third-placed team after Gold Coast weekend, Wallaby Seven as well as Gold Coast bowl winners USA.

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