Olympics berth the bright spark in dull year for relegated Kenya Sevens

The 2022/2023 will be a season that the country would love to forget pretty fast, but that can only happen if Kenya Sevens do one honourable thing: bounce back to the World Rugby Sevens Series next season.
The task ahead is pretty straightforward.

Shujaa must win the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series starting January in Dubai before heading to Uruguay in March and Germany in May.

Kenya Sevens salvaged some pride when they stunned South Africa 17-12 to recapture the Africa Cup title and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for the third consecutive time.

However, Kenya Lionesses were not so lucky after they lost to South Africa 12-7 in the Women’s Africa Cup final that doubled up for the Paris Olympic Games qualifiers in Tunisia in October.

It’s a season that Kenya Simbas shared the spoils with Uganda Cranes as the Kenyans retained Elgon Cup, with the Cranes taking advantage of the absence of defending champions Zimbabwe to lift their maiden Victoria Cup.

Kenya Lionesses, who finished second behind South Africa at the 2023 Rugby Africa Women's Cup in May in Madagascar, retained the Elgon Cup.

Kabras Sugar extended their bragging rights for the second consecutive season as the best team locally, retaining the Kenya Cup and the regional Enterprise Cup.

Former Kenya Cup champions Nondescripts and Kisumu Rugby Club finished top of the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Championship to return to Kenya Cup as Impala Saracens continued to languish in the Championships for the second year.

Mwamba Women Rugby Club retained the Women’s Kenya Cup after staging a thrilling comeback from 17-3 to win the final 21-20 against Impala.

Kenya rugby legend Collins Iniera hung his boots after a chequered career spanning two decades in January as William “Lomu” Ambaka followed suit after 13 years the same month.

Another Kenyan Sevens star, Billy “The Kid” Odhiambo, called it quits after a career spanning over a decade in November.

Read: Billy Odhiambo: My soul was willing, but my body wasn't

The year ushered in a new board at Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), where former chairman Sasha Mutai was elected unopposed as the new chairman on March 29, in a set up that saw former Kenya Sevens skipper Humphrey Kayange also get elected one of the six directors.

But May 21, 2023 will remain a black Sunday for Kenyan rugby.

For the first time in 23 years, Kenya Sevens emotionally bid farewell to the World Rugby Sevens Series.

Shujaa, who were first invited to the Series in 2000 before becoming a core side in 2004, were relegated from the World Rugby Sevens Series after they lost to Canada 12-7 in the relegation play-off final at the London Sevens.

Uruguay, Kenya and Canada finished 12th, 13th and 14th after the 10th and penultimate leg of the series.

The three teams met in the play-off tournament at the London Sevens, joined by Challenger Series winner Tonga.

Canada and Kenya topped the round robin tournament to occasion the final battle, where Canada prevailed to become the 12th core team in the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Series.

The only time the country came close to relegation was during the 2018/2019 Series when the country finished 13th with 37 points, two places above relegation.

The poor results saw Briton Damian McGrath, appointed in May 2022, fired as Kenya Sevens head coach in July this year, with his deputy, former Mwamba Rugby Club coach Kelvin “Bling” Wambua, taking over.

Strathmore Leos coach Louis Kisia was appointed Wambua’s deputy, with  former Kenya Sevens skipper and 2016 Singapore Sevens winning captain Andrew Amonde coming in as strength and conditioning coach.
The 2016 Singapore Sevens winning team manager, Steve Sewe, regained his former position in Wambua’s new-look bench.

Kenya will face Germany, Mexico and Uganda in Pool “C” of the Challenger Series on January 12-14 in Dubai. Georgia, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea are in Pool “A”, while Chile, Japan, Portugal and Tonga are in Pool “B.”

The top four teams in the challenger series will then face off with the bottom for teams after the 2023/2024 World Series, where the top four finishers will stay for the 2024/2025 World Rugby Sevens Series.

“It’s just a matter of good planning and getting the boys ready. Basically, there will be little festivities for the players since that is the only sacrifice they shall make,” says Amonde, adding that the team will break on December 24 for Christmas but return to training on December 27.

Amonde reckons that the journey will be tough, but his charges have an opportunity to bounce back to the main series.

“The good thing is that the good vibe is back and what is remaining to keep the players focused,” explained Amonde.

Kenya played South Africa for the first time in the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament in Harare in September after the Blitzebokke failed to finish in the top four of the 2022/23 World Rugby Series, missing out on automatic qualification for the Olympic Games.

Read: How Shujaa slayed South Africa to book Paris Olympics ticket

South Africa finished seventh with 120 points, while New Zealand won the overall series title with 200 points after claiming victories in Sydney, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and Toulouse.

Argentina, Fiji and France took the other automatic qualification places.
During the Africa Sevens, Kenya blew away Burkina Faso 26-0 in the quarters, Zimbabwe 22-11 in the semis and South Africa 17-12 in the final to reclaim the Africa title they lost to Uganda last year and make it to the Paris Olympics.

South Africa will now seek to qualify for Paris from the final Olympic qualification tournament scheduled for June 21-23 in Monaco.

Kenya Sevens also bagged their 10th Safari Sevens, beating Samurai Barracudas 19-0 in the final to retain the Robin Cahill Trophy on November 19.

Read: Impressive Shujaa retain Safari Sevens crown

Kenya Lionesses qualified for the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics after South Africa opted out despite winning the Africa qualifiers.

But the Kenyans won’t make it to Paris through the Africa qualifier after they lost to South Africa 12-7 in the final.

The Lionesses still have their last shot at the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament in June 21-23 in Monaco.

The Lionesses will also embark on their journey to qualify for the 2024/2025 Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series from the 2024 Challenger Series starting in Dubai, where they will meet Czech, China and Mexico in Pool “B.”

In his first season as KCB Rugby Sevens coach, the former Kenya Sevens skipper, Andrew Amonde, recaptured the SportPesa National Sevens Circuit title in September.

It was KCB’s fourth series crown after victories in 2013, 2014 and 2019.

KCB topped the series with 113 points after winning Dala Sevens, Christie Sevens and Kabeberi Sevens while finishing third at Driftwood and Prinsloo Sevens and fifth at Tisap Sevens.

They crushed Nakuru Sevens 26-0 to defend Kabeberi Sevens, dethroned champions Strathmore University Leos of the Christie Sevens title in the final 17-12, besides beating Kabras 17-5 at Dala Sevens final.

Good defence, firm mental frame and maturity are what Kabras Rugby Club banked on to beat KCB Rugby 19-9 and retain the Kenya Cup title at Kakamega Showground on March 11.

It was Kabras Sugar’s third Kenya Cup title after previous exploits in 2016 and 2021/2022 seasons.

Read: Kabras stun KCB to defend Kenya Cup title

They finished the season unbeaten in 11 matches to top the log with 52 points and beat Kenya Harlequin 22-8 in the semis before stopping bitter rivals KCB in Kakamega.

Kabras Sugar Rugby sealed a double once again after they rallied from 18-0 down to hit KCB Rugby 30-27 and retain the Enterprise Cup at the RFUEA ground on April 15.

It was Kabras Sugar’s third Enterprise Cup title after previous victories in 2019 and 2022.

Kabras have made a bright start to the 2023/2024 season, demolishing Kisumu 72-10, Nondies 40-0, and Catholic University Monks 78-0 to take an early lead with 15 points.

“It’s a good start since the players have hit form quite early but my worry is complacency and lack of concentration,” said Kabras Sugar coach Carlos Katywa. “It’s a marathon and we need to uphold the momentum and make the right decisions.”

Read: Katywa preaches caution despite Kabras' perfect start

Katywa said as the season continues, they will invite mental skills experts for the team. “It will be needless to win the regular league unbeaten then lose in the play-offs,” said Katywa.

South African Jerome Paarwater returned as Kenya Simbas  head coach in March this year, replacing  Paul Odera, who resigned in November last year after Kenya's unsuccessful campaign at the 2023 Rugby World Cup final qualification tournament in France.

Paarwater returned for a second time after handling Kenya Simbas between 2013 and 2017.

The Uganda Rugby Cranes won the 2023 Victoria Cup, beating Kenya 21-20 after trailing 13-12 at half time in a match that doubled up as the first leg of the Elgon Cup on November 6 in Kampala.

Read: Uganda Cranes stun Kenya Simbas to win Victoria Cup

Then Simbas would seal their sixth successive Elgon Cup success when they overturned the first leg defeat to beat Uganda Rugby Cranes 20-13 for an aggregate victory of 40-34 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium, Kisumu on November 11.

Kenya Simbas have won the Elgon Cup 13 times since its inception in 2004, while Uganda lifted it thrice in 2006, 2012 and 2015.

The Lionesses roared to an empathic victory against Uganda Lady Cranes 87-3 at the same venue for their seventh women’s Elgon Cup victory.

Kenya Lionesses beat Madagascar 29-20 before demolishing Cameroon 52-3 at the Rugby Africa Cup in May in Madagascar. Kenya finished second in the championship after losing South Africa 48-0.

That saw Kenya Lionesses qualify for the World Rugby XV Championships played in October in Dubai, where they finished fourth in the six-team contest behind winners Ireland, Fiji and Spain. Kenya finished ahead of Kazakhstan and Colombia.

Former Kenyan internationals Peter Akatsa and Edward “Ogre” Kinyany passed on this year.

Read: Peter Akatsa: Kenyan sports legend who scored many honours

Akatch, who also represented Kenya in hockey in two Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988, passed on in the United States of America on October 6.

Read: Rugby fraternity mourns ex-Kenya Simbas forward, coach Kinyany

Kinyany, a former Kenya Harlequin player and chairman, died on October 24 after collapsing, two days after celebrating his 51st birthday.