The Kenya sevens will at the weekend be in battle for the sole ticket to the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, alongside 11 other sides at the Africa 7s in Johannesburg South Africa.
As defending champions, the Shujaa head into the Africa 7s as firm favourites, to join the Blitz Bokke as the African representatives to the first Sevens games at the Olympics in almost a century. Despite a season to forget at the world series, the Kenya 7s are still considered to be head and shoulders above the competition at the Africa 7s.
The notion above should however be at the very back of the team’s mind, if at all it deserves space there in the first place. Preparations in earnest for this tournament only begun a few weeks before the Safari 7s, while other sides begun their preparations as early as July.
It could be said that the margins between Kenya and their rivals, especially Zimbabwe have narrowed over the past year. The Shujaa finished in 13th at the end of last season’s world series with Zimbabwe only missing out on core status by a whisker.
Throw in the likes of Tunisia, Nigeria, Madagascar, Uganda and Namibia, who have made significant strides over the last year and you have a really interesting tournament on your hands.
On Saturday, at the Barnard Stadium in Johannesburg the 12 sides will kick off their respective charges on an equal footing. The Shujaa are in pool A alongside Mauritius, Madagascar and Senegal. Pool B sees Zimbabwe take on Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia with Pool C pitting Tunisia, Botswana, Namibia and Morocco.
Pool A : Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Senegal.
Pool B : Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia.
Pool C : Tunisia, Botswana, Namibia, Morocco.
The 12 team format will see the 12 sides, seeded at the end of Day 1 action with the top 8 sides qualifying for the cup quarter finals and the last 4 play in the Bowl.
The technical bench headed by Benjamin Ayimba settled for a very exciting 12 for this qualifiers, it has been long since I was this excited about a sevens side. Handing full debuts to Frank Wanyama and Jeffrey Oluoch, the duo who were very impressive at the Safari 7s.
One name stands out for me in the 12, Eden Agero who returns to the 7s fold after two seasons out. The fleet footed half back should give us the much needed spark of creativity alongside Augustine Lughonzo, Biko Adema and Oscar Ayodi.
We all saw the impact Willie Ambaka’s return had on the side at the Safari 7s, expect his partnership with Andrew Amonde in the forwards to continue flourishing at the weekend, fetching ball both in the air and on the ground.
Collins Injera and Billy Odhiambo should provide enough fire power in the backs with Dennis Ombachi and Leonard Mugaisi lurking on the side lines, offering a different dimension to the two.
Our biggest challenge from this pool should come from Madagascar, the side renowned for its free flowing brand of rugby. We should aim to finish not only top of this Pool but the 12 sides, that should see us drawn against the 8th ranked side in the quarter then play either the 4th or 5th ranked side in the semi, depending on who wins that quarter final.
But we are not there yet, focus should be solely on the first game, Mauritius at 11:00 am Kenya time, you can follow all the action live through this link : https://www.youtube.com/live_event_analytics?v=7dBQu4Wy5LE
Kenya vs Mauritius – 11:00 am.
Kenya vs Senegal – 1:42 pm.
Kenya vs Madagascar – 4:14 pm.
All the best to the boys, RIO TUNAKUJA!!
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!
