Kenya 7s 'relying on government goodwill'

What you need to know:

  • Kenya are currently ranked eighth on the 21-team IRB World Sevens Series.

As things are, Kenya’s sevens rugby team will continue relying on government support to honour their forthcoming engagements.

These include the Hong Kong leg of the IRB World Sevens Series, Commonwealth Games and Rugby Sevens World Cup. 

The team was thrown into a spin when erstwhile shirt sponsors SportPesa abruptly pulled the plug on a Sh500 million deal with the Kenya Rugby Union which benefited the team most at the start of this year.  

“The players have been unbelievable recently and responded so well to several challenges. We are slowly improving at the moment and if all the logistics are catered for, we could pull some surprises in the coming months,” the team’s coach Innocent Simiyu said on Thursday. 

SportPesa abruptly pulled the plug on a Sh500 million deal with the Kenya Rugby Union which benefited the Sevens team most at the start of this year.  

This has, however, not stopped Shujaa from impressing on the international scene, as witnessed with the semis and final returns in the USA and Canada last weekend. 

Kenya are currently ranked eighth on the 21-team IRB World Sevens Series.