Two wins in twelve matches, 4 points after two legs. That is the sevens season so far in the world series for Kenya. I struggle to remember the last time we were this badly off. to say that the rain has really hit us is an understatement. We have taken a beating..
I partly empathise with the technical bench, some of the things that have happened in the last couple of months are really hard to deal with, but at the end of the day, it is them to take the fall.
A little over a year into his contract, Treu has given the Kenyan fan very little joy. At the beginning of his tenure, we understood that he was introducing a new style of play to the side, which is a time tasking process. Then there was the players’ strike which put us in a very tricky situation.
That strike action saw us tackle the opening leg of the series in Australia with a very inexperienced side. Despite an exciting start we were soon to be hit by the harsh realities of the series, when we narrowly lost to Wales in the second pool match at the Gold Coast. We went on to pick up two points after reaching the Shield final.
It was more of a free fall in Dubai, despite the return of Patrice Agunda, Dan Sikuta and Oscar Ayodi to the side. We looked really bad on the two days, struggling to hold on to the pill, we were conceding tries off first phase ball. Kick off retention was a rumour, there was very little going for the side.
It looked like the players were playing because they had to, not because they wanted to. The heart of the Kenya sevens was missing, and it is not about the faces. There’s something about the side at the weekend that was missing.
There’s always this excitement, that surrounds the Kenya 7s whenever they play, remember the first two games at the Gold Coast this year?
Transition is never an easy process, ours is that much harder, considering that it is was never planned. While our overall goal remains a podium finish at the Olympics, it looks like we have thrown our immediate performances out the window.
We are currently in 14th spot on the overall log, out of the 17 sides that have taken part in the series so far. Two of those have only played in one leg, of the 15 core sides we are only better off than Japan, a newly promoted side. This is not where we are supposed to be one year to the Olympics, not even close.
“Tunacheza na shilingi kwa choo..” to mean that we are playing with a coin rather close to the toilet bowl. Let’s not drop the coin.
There’s no place to hide for the technical bench, as I mentioned to some of the guys I spoke to over the weekend. We have virtually thrown this young team into the deep unforgiving waters of the series without as much as a floater.
A quick glance around the series’ core sides, and you will notice that everyone is sticking to the experienced faces, it is no coincidence.
We seem to be taking 2 steps forward and 5 steps backwards over the last two or three years. If the current situation is not arrested soon, we might find ourselves in the relegation dog fight. I don’t support the calls for Treu to get fired, yet. We won’t be helping the situation if we were to let him go right now, remember the 2 steps forward, 5 steps backwards?
I however think that it is time the gaffer re thinks his whole approach to the side. He has had the whole kitchen works thrown at him during his time here, had he been a bit more flexible and realistic in those situations, we would be a bit better off at this point I feel.
It is time he sorted out the immediate results. We head to South Africa this weekend, surely we couldn’t get any worse from here. For the first time in a very long time, I have to admit that I have very little hope in the side, rather the technical bench. It will be interesting to see how they plan to turn things around though.
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!