Ochieng succeeds Treu as sevens head coach

Nairobi, Kenya: Felix Ochieng has been named as new Kenya sevens head coach for the remainder of the season.

The former assistant coach under Englishman Mike Friday and Paul Treu (South Africa) has his work cut out and will be required to steady the ship, Kenya team, in the remaining six legs of the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Series.

A statement on the Kenya Ruby Union (KRU) website signed by Secretary Eddie Omondi confirmed Ochieng will replace Treu who resigned at the weekend after the Port Elizabeth Sevens in South Africa.

Apart from Ochieng, the rest of the technical bench remains the same as Vuyo Zanga was retained as assistant coach with Graham Bentz retaining his attack coach role.

Ochieng was named to the position after a KRU board meeting on Tuesday and it comes as a surprise since outgoing chairman Mwangi Muthee had strongly hinted they will name a foreign coach for the position.

In rooting for a foreign coach Muthee said: "The game has changed tremendously with a lot of scientific and technological knowledge required.

"It is no longer a simple game of rugby. At the moment, our local coaches are far off from it.

"What we need to do is to build the capacity of our local coaches by working with foreign experienced tacticians."

Muthee said it is only by working with foreign coaches that the country can catch up with the world's best sevens teams.

"Our poor performance is not because Kenya has become worse but is due to the fact that other teams have become better. We must change our approach if we are to catch up with the likes of New Zealand, South Africa and Fiji. In doing so, we must strive to do what they do and run the team in a strictly professional manner," he said.

Former sevens coach Benjamin Ayimba, however, said local coaches understand the players better and can work with the prevailing conditions.

Ochieng's first assignment will be in February during the Wellington Sevens, the fourth tournament of the World Series where

Former Sevens head coach Paul Treu with his understudy Felix Ochieng. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Former Sevens head coach Paul Treu with his understudy Felix Ochieng. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Kenya has been drawn in D with Argentina, Scotland and Samoa.

After this the team will move to USA also in February before going to Hong Kong.