Kenya rugby sevens team appreciate Dubai

By  Andrew Amonde

The Kenyan sevens team arrived safely in Dubai on Monday. The mood was fantastic from the boys. We had our fast session on Monday afternoon in the gym just to prepare the body for Tuesdays work load.

The weather in Dubai is very hot and humid compared to home. It will take a little adjustment and get used to by the time we start playing.

On Tuesday, we have a whole day scheduled training both in the field and gym, as we were waiting to see how everything would turn out at the end of the day.

Training

On Wednesday, we had two long training session’s. We work on some set pieces and our game plans. The boys looked very sharp and composed compared to the way they were before we left home. We have settled well in Dubai.

Accommodation and food

We are leaving in Crown Plaza and this place is fantastic. The standards are high and the people are welcoming. The food that we have been having is well-prepared and is appreciated with everyone. We are a happy lot. All the teams leave together in the same hotel. We have been relating with the other teams pretty well.

 Weather

So far the weather has been perfect for rugby. It’s hot just as home and I think that the main reason we were able to settle in very fast. I pray the weather remains the same for the weekend.

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The International Rugby Board has announced USA Rugby star Carlin Isles as a new IRB Anti-Doping ambassador on ‘Keep Rugby Clean’ day at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.

The IRB’s Keep Rugby Clean programme is an awareness campaign to promote tournaments free of drugs, and to underline the fact that there is no place for doping in rugby.

Isles, a former sprinter who has a personal best over 100 metres of 10.13 seconds, becomes the eighth official player ambassador of the global education and awareness programme spear-headed by the IRB.

“It is an honour and a privilege for me to become an IRB Anti-Doping ambassador, joining these other wonderful rugby players,” said Isles, who is competing for USA at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens alongside two other ambassadors in the Sevens game, South Africa’s former world player of the year, Cecil Afrika, and New Zealand’s double World Cup winner, Carla Hohepa.

“I am passionate about playing Rugby Sevens for my country on the world stage and feel blessed to have been given this opportunity. In international sport it is important for us as athletes to know that we are competing against other clean athletes, and it is reassuring for us to know that people are out there constantly making sure that is the case,” added Isles.

— The writer is captain of Kenya national Sevens team, with addiotional reporting by IRB.com