Kenya Sevens sides prepare for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Kenya's Johnstone Olindi races away from the Spain defence for a try on day two of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 men's competition on 6 December 2019.  [Photo credit: Mike Lee - KLC  for World Rugby]

Next year will see the Kenya men’s rugby sevens team grace the Olympic Games in Tokyo in what will be Shujaa’s major assignment of the year.

While a podium finish in the Japanese capital might look like a far-fetched target, the East Africans will definitely seek to improve their pecking order from three years ago when they had a disappointing outing at the Rio Olympics after winning one match in five contests.

Qualification to the Summer Games came as a huge relief for the team having had a turbulent year which was characterised by wrangles between the senior players and their employer, the Kenya Rugby Union(KRU).

The experienced lot was opposed to KRU’s decision to slash their wages and therefore boycotted duty forcing the team to rely on a relatively youthful squad which survived relegation from the World Sevens Series by a whisker after collecting a paltry 37 points in the 2018-19 season.

 Eleventh position

It was that poor showing in the 10-legged competition that cost Paul Murunga his coaching job with New Zealander Paul Feeney succeeding him in the run up to October’s Safari Sevens tournament as well as the Africa Sevens showpiece in Johannesburg which doubled up as a qualifying route to the Olympics.

Although the Olympic Games will be Kenya Sevens’ prime target in 2020, they will also be seeking to put up a good performance in the ongoing 2019-20 World Sevens Series when the season resumes with the New Zealand and Australia legs in January and February.

The team currently occupies 11th position in the standings having picked 15 points from the opening two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town.

Despite Shujaa’s general struggles in the 2018-19 campaign, the absence of senior players opened the door for some exciting young talents to announce themselves to the world. The KCB duo of Johnstone Olindi and Vincent Onyala, as well as Mwamba’s Daniel Taabu, made the most of their debut season in national colours.

The 20-year-old Olindi emerged as the team’s best tackler, completing 64 tackles while Taabu was the top points scorer, contributing 157 points to the team’s tally of 839. Onyala topped Kenya’s try scorers chart after crossing the whitewash 22 times.

It was no fluke that the three went on to keep their places in the team despite the arrival of a new coach.

Charles Omondi and Mark Wandeto of Homeboyz, together with Blak Blad half-back Brian Wahinya, were also introduced in the World Sevens Series during the 2018-19 season.

Following the poor showing in the series, Shujaa were boosted by the return of their key players whose impact was instantly felt as the Kenya Sevens’ second string squad, nicknamed Morans, clinched the Safari Sevens title in what was Feeney’s first assignment in charge.

The Lionesses will also be in Tokyo for the Olympic Games after qualifying for the tournament with a second-place finish in the 2019 Africa Women’s Sevens tournament. Before traveling to Japan, the Lionesses will try to become a core team in the World Sevens Series yet again when they compete at the 2020 Hong Kong Sevens in April.

The tournament’s winner will be admitted to the 2020-2021 World Women’s Sevens Series.

The Kenyan ladies saw their hopes of becoming a core side in the series dashed after losing to Brazil in the semi-finals of this year’s Hong Kong tournament.

At the same time, the Kenya women’s national 15s team remained on course for the 2021 Rugby World Cup after finishing second to South Africa in the African qualifiers.

The team will face either Colombia or Brazil in 2020 with the winner progressing to a  repêchage tournament to try and punch the ticket to the global showpiece that will be held in New Zealand.

The men’s national 15s team, Simbas retained the Elgon Cup after beating Uganda in two legs before finishing as runners up to Zimbabwe in the Victoria Cup.

 Double delight

The Kenya under-20 team was also in action this year, winning the Africa under-20 championship with the feat earning Paul Odera’s charges qualification to the World Rugby Junior Trophy in Brazil where they settled for sixth position after winning one fixture against the hosts.

Locally, KCB continued with their dominance in the Kenya Cup as they claimed a third successive league title by beating Kabras Sugar in the final. It was double delight for the bankers as they also reigned supreme in the National Sevens Circuit after winning four of the six legs to accumulate 116 points.

In March this year, Kenyan rugby witnessed a change of guard at the federation with Oduor Gangla downing Sasha Mutai to replace Richard Omwela as the KRU chairman. Gangla’s few months at the helm of KRU have not been that easy.