National rugby 7s team coach Kelvin Wambua has announced the official squad for the upcoming Rugby Africa 7s, which also serves as the African Qualification Tournament for the Rugby Sevens competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Shujaa who will be looking to make it to the Olympic games for the 3rd time in a row after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, have been placed in Pool B against Zambia, Namibia and Nigeria as they seek to make their third consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games.
Coach Kevin Wambua believes the squad has a powerful blend of experience and fresh talent for the task ahead, as the squad boasts a well-balanced composition of six established and experienced players with the enthusiasm and potential of six newcomers.
“The primary goal is to perform strongly in the pool stage and secure a top position by the end of day one, ultimately advancing to the quarter-finals. The squad is determined and believes they have what it takes to excel in the competition,” said Wambua.
He added; ‘I know everyone here is thinking about South Africa but we have to win all our pool matches first. So our approach is quite simple…we have our individual and team profiles for our opponents. In terms of our approach is to take it one game at a time and treat each match as a final.”
The coach revealed that the mood in the camp is at an all-time high as his charges are raring to go and redeem Kenya’s image that was dented following Shujaa’s relegation from the World Rugby 7s Series in May this year.
He further stressed the team’s commitment to taking one game at a time and approaching each match as if it were a final.
“We want to be in a position where we can top our pool at the end of day one so we get a favourable draw in the quarters. The boys believe they can do it…they believe they can go all the way and that is good because the first step to fulfilling a dream is to believe you can do it. The players know what to do and all is left now is show the world what we can do when the time comes,” he said.
The team begins its campaign on Saturday 16th of September against West African rivals Nigeria before facing South African powerhouse Namibia at 1:50 pm and later in the evening Zambia at 4:34 pm East African.
Squad
Kevin Wekesa, Brian Tanga, John Okoth, George Ooro, Vincent Onyala, Tony Omondi, Samuel Asati, Beldad Ogeta, Patrick Odongo, William Mwanji, Nygel Amaitsa and Festus Shiasi.
Saturday Fixtures
11:06am | v Nigeria
1:50pm | v Namibia
4:34pm | v Zambia