Captain Amonde reckons Kenya 7s yet to hit top note

Kenya Sevens captain Andrew Amonde has hailed the return of senior players in the team and challenged the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) to play and handle disputes expeditiously.

Amonde said the frequent impasses involving players failing to sign contracts twice over disputed pay have been a major setback to the team that could now have won several legs in the World Rugby Series according to him, since their maiden victory at 2016 Singapore Sevens.

He also said the high turnover of coaches since Mike Friday in 2013 has also negatively affected the team and called for full support of the new head coach Paul Feeney.

The 35-year-old said they will use this weekend’s Safari Sevens to fine-tune for the Africa qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due November 9 to 10 in Johannesburg and the 2019-2020 World Rugby Series.

“Everybody is now available for selection which is a big boost,” said Amonde.

“Feeney now has a good challenge since he will be able to select a strong team after testing each player at all levels.”

Amonde said that they have held fruitful talks with the union who listened to the players’ grievances and promised to iron out outstanding issues dealing with the game and the players.

“As we talk, some of the issues we had last season still stand. We still have unpaid dues that the union is addressing. We believe they will be able to get something that will sustain us all well,” said Amonde, the 2016 Singapore Sevens winning captain.

REFUSED TO SIGN NEW DEALS

Amonde explained that the Union know well how the stalemate wrecked their campaign towards the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and subsequently World Rugby Series.

Players refused to sign new contracts owing to slashed allowances and salaries forcing new head coach Innocent “Namcos” Simiyu to start his 2016-2017 campaign with a depleted squad.

The players returned after KRU sealed a deal with gaming firm SportsPesa and would reach the Cup finals of the Hong Kong and Canada legs of the 2018-2019 World Rugby Sevens Series.

Simiyu was fired after players concealed a sponsor logo at Paris Sevens while SportPesa withdrew their sponsorship after a tussle with the government over increased taxes.

The next coach, Paul Murunga, had to field rookies in the 2018-2019 World Rugby Sevens Series and it showed as the team escaped relegation by a whisker.

“Since 2016, we have had many distractions that have really hurt our chances. Our success has been in parts due to lack of consistency when it takes time to build and experience can’t be bought,” Amonde said.

“Teams that have performed in the World Series like Fiji, USA, England and South Africa have coaches who have stayed with them for many years.”