Kenya: National Team Rugby Players to Rest

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

William Njuguna

15 June 2011

Kenya coach Benjamin Ayimba will rest his core players and field fringe players for the Safaricom Sevens slated for November. Ayimba said he wants to keep the players fresh for the start of the IRB Sevens series which will kick off in Australia, before moving to its traditional venue of Dubai and for the first time, Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

“We have a grueling start to the season and we need to conserve the energy for the start of the season, where we will play for three consecutive weekends,” added Ayimba.

Ayimba said Kenya being a core team of the IRB series need to be at its best at the start of the season. “A core team in the IRB Sevens series can’t be competing against provincial and invitational sides which grace the Safaricom Sevens tournament,” added Ayimba. Kenya have won the Safari Sevens for the last three years in a row and Ayimba said with the growing depth in the team, he may give the chance to upcoming players.

“I want to give run out to other players and see if they can handle the big stage of the tournament,” he added. The team is on a break and is expected to start training in August ahead of the 2011/2012 season.

Elsewhere, Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) general manager Auka Gacheo, has been sent on compulsory leave. In a move aimed at revamping the union, the KRU board unanimously passed to make changes to the secretariat with Auka being the first casualty. Auka has gone on compulsory leave pending staff restructuring with Barabara Kokonya acting in an interim capacity.

The post of General manager will be advertised on for competitive bidding. The position is considered the nerve centre of implementing chairman Mwangi Muthee’s vision of taking the game back to the grass roots.

Muthee said governance changes are set to continue in the next three months before the start of the club season. Muthee noted that he expects to see a new and better administration running of the sport in the coming few months. “You will see changes in the coming months as we seek to streamline our activities,” he added. He said work has already started on the sub unions at the coast, western Kenya and universities.

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