Four senior rugby players stay away from 7s squad

Kenya's Collins Injera (left) avoids a tackle at a past match. According to a source within the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), who spoke to Daily Nation Sport on condition of anonymity, plans are under way to include Collins Injera, Patrice Agunda, Michael Ouma and Oscar Ouma for the third leg. FILE PHOTO | KARIM SAHIB |

What you need to know:

  • The four were among several senior players who boycotted training ahead of the Safari Sevens in September this year and subsequently missed the opening leg of the 2014/2015 IRB World Sevens Series in Gold Coast last month.
  • Meanwhile, Kenya Sevens team players will only accrue bonuses if they top their respective pools in a certain leg of the IRB World Sevens Series.

Veterans Collins Injera, Oscar Ouma, Patrice Agunda and Michael Wanjala will miss Kenya Sevens team’s upcoming assignments after failing to show up in the training camp.

Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) vice chairman Philip Jalang’o said the team’s technical bench will have to name squads for the next two major tournaments without the four players.

“Training was open to all players upon after the Gold Coast leg of the IRB World Series but the four players have not turned up,” Jalang’o told Daily Nation Sport Wednesday.

The four were among several senior players who boycotted training ahead of the Safari Sevens in September this year and subsequently missed the opening leg of the 2014/2015 IRB World Sevens Series in Gold Coast last month.

Ouma, formerly of Nakuru, has already signed for Kandy Sports Club that features in Sri Lanka’s lucrative Super League.

Injera featured for Mwamba in their 40-29 victory against Impala last weekend, while Wanjala also played for Strathmore Leos' last weekend away in Mombasa, where they won 46-0.

ACCRUING BONUSES

Agunda featured prominently for Kenya Harlequin during the Impala Floodlit where they lost the final to Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) but stayed out in their Kenya Cup opening match against Blak Blad which they won 32-7.

Head coach Paul Treu, who arrived in the country on Tuesday, will have one team for the next legs of the IRB World Sevens in Dubai on December 5-6 and South Africa on December 13-14, and the other for the Confederation of Africa Rugby Sevens (Africa Cup Sevens).

Meanwhile, Kenya Sevens team players will only accrue bonuses if they top their respective pools in a certain leg of the IRB World Sevens Series.

In a structure that is yet to be realised by KRU, the players will only get bonuses for making it to main Cup semis-finals.

The Union’s secretary general Eddie Omondi said that even though they have retained the players’ salary structures - Tier One, Tier Two and Development - they have cancelled all the previous contracts with the players.

Omondi said there will be huge bonuses for the team at the end of the season if it finishes among the top four. For the last three seasons, each member of the team drew bonuses for making it to the Cup quarterfinals onwards.