Bronze medallist Treu sees true win in gold with Kenya Sevens

Kenya Sevens head coach Paul Treu has won two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games.

The South African donned his first bronze as a player at the 2002 Manchester Games and would follow up with his second as a coach at the 2010 Delhi Games.

That is why Treu, who has now coached Kenya for a season, believes that his experienced charges won’t just be targeting any colour of the medal but the most coveted gold as the game’s action begins today at the Ibrox Stadium.

Kenya Sevens is making their fifth appearance in the Games since their historic debut at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games.

Interestingly, having beaten South Africa once in five outings last season as Kenyan coach, Treu once again comes up against his former side in the Pool B outing at 12.20am on Sunday (Kenyan time).

But first things first, they will play Cook Islands at 1.16pm before facing off with Trinidad and Tobago at 9.52pm.

Kenya could encounter defending champions New Zealand, Canada or Scotland who are favourites to sail through from Pool A. Pool C has Samoa, Wales, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia. Pool D has Uganda, England, Australia and Sri Lanka.

“In terms of the colour of the medal, I wouldn’t say we are overambitious but I think this team has a medal in them and we shall push to make sure we give ourselves the best chance to achieve that goal,” said Treu.

GO ALL THE WAY

“That means we are targeting top four hence we shall start slow but strive to qualify for the knockout stage and take one game at a time.” Treu said he is confident that his side has got enough potential and experience to go all the way.

“We have to take a look at the culture of rugby in Kenya, its people and the winning mentally,” Treu said.

“What we are trying to instill in the players is the belief that they can win.”

Treu said players are in good spirits after close to two weeks of shifting from the 15s version at the Rugby World Cup qualifier in Madagascar.

“It was always going to get tough but our early arrival in Scotland has given us an ideal opportunity to find the rhythm. The guys are really excited and raring to go,” said Treu, who is eyeing another Commonwealth medal.

The level of conditioning and readiness to compete could be at the peak but Treu told his charges to take up accountability and ownership of their games.

“Boks are a known enemy hence it will be an exciting game. The rest are of unknown quality,” said Treu, who will be banking on experienced brothers Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera among others for delivery. Other seasoned hands in the team are Oscar Ouma, Patrice Agunda and skipper Andrew Amonde.

Kenya Sevens made its maiden appearance at the “Club” Games during the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games where they stunned the likes of Samoa before the 2002 Manchester and 2006 Melbourne Games.

They failed to break to the Main Cup on both occasion but managed a Cup quarter at the 2010 Delhi where they lost to Australia 5-27.

Treu said he is aware how the nation was gutted and disappointed after the Kenya 15s team only needed a point to qualify for 2015 RWC but threw it away in Madagascar.

“We spoke last week on how to get the belief, bond and winning mentally,” he said.