Tag: Shujaa

Oyoo optimistic ahead of Jamaica meeting at the Commonwealth

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Kenya men’s rugby team (Shujaa) captain Nelson Oyoo is hoping for a good outcome in the side’s second game against Jamaica at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Shujaa began their Commonwealth Games rugby sevens campaign with a 27-14 victory over African champions Uganda.

Tries from Johnstone Olindi, Herman Humwa and Billy Odhiambo alongside Olindi’s sole conversion gave Shujaa a 17-0 lead before Timothy Kasiga’s converted try cut the scores to 17-7 at the break.

Philip Wokorach would then score and convert his own try after the restart for a 17-14 score before Olindi and Kevin Wekesa landed second half tries to give Shujaa the result.

Oyoo has expressed his joy after the commanding victory and hopes things go the same way when the Damian McGrath’s charges face Jamaica in the second outing of pool D later today.

“I think it was a good game, coming in for a camp of 7 weeks and coming to have our first game. You know for a tournament to start with a win is a good start. Although at some point we felt like we are losing focus and maybe some absence in the gameplay,” he said.

“So we are taking the win to the next gane. There is no less opponent in this tournament. So we are going to take it like any other game and give them the respect they deserve.” He added.

On the other hand, Shujaa head coach Damian McGrath welcomed the results gladly.

“We started well but I think the emotion of the whole occasion sought a lot of energy from us and in the end it got scrappy, but all you can do on a day is win. You get no trophies on the first day so a win is a win for us. To win and in the manner we did, we get to be happy.”

Up next is a clash against Jamaica at 8.58pm East African Time.

Shujaa to face Tonga in Rugby World Cup 7s opener

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Kenya 7s national rugby team  will play Tonga in their Rugby World Cup 7s opener at the Cape Town Stadium at 11.23am EAT on Friday 9 September 2022.

The winner of this clash  will face South American side Argentina in the round of 16 at 5.23pm the same day.

Shujaa are two time semifinalists, having reached the last four in 2009 in Dubai under the tutelage of the late Benjamin Ayimba and again in 2013 in Moscow with Mike Friday at the helm.

The team made its RWC 7s debut in 2001 in Mar del Plata, and has been a regular, taking part in subsequent editions in 2005 (Hong Kong), 2009 (Dubai), 2013 (Moscow) and 2018 (San Francisco).

Moments after the draw, World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said:

“The release of the match schedule with 50 days to go is a really exciting moment on the road to Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town. Players, teams and fans can now fine-tune their plans and prepare for what promises to be a truly spectacular three day showcase of world class rugby sevens.

“With its iconic location, and passionate, international fanbase, the first Rugby World Cup in South Africa since that special event in 1995 promises to be another must watch, history making celebration of rugby’s power to unite and inspire people from all countries and backgrounds.

“Rugby Sevens is an incredibly fast, skilful, dynamic and dramatic sport, which continues to grow in popularity around the world following a second highly impactful Olympic Games competition in Tokyo last year.”

Shujaa to commence Commonwealth Games campaign against Uganda

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The Kenya men’s national sevens team, Shujaa, will get their campaign at the Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens competition underway with a match against Uganda.

The two East African sides and neighbours will lock horns at 12.50 pm EAT on Friday 29 July in Birmingham. Shujaa will then take on Jamaica at 8.58pm EAT the same day.

They will wind up their Pool D fixtures with a clash against Australia at 12.50pm EAT on Saturday 30 July.

Shujaa Commonwealth Games Squad Nelson Oyoo (Captain), Herman Humwa, Alvin Otieno, Vincent Onyala, Bush Mwale, Kevin Wekesa , Tony Omondi, Johnstone Olindi , Billy Odhiambo, Edmond Anya , Daniel Taabu, Levi Amunga, Willy Ambaka

Management: Damian McGrath (Head Coach), Kevin Wambua (Assistant Coach), Geoffrey Kimani (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Lamech Bogonko (Physio), Erick Ogweno (Team Manager)

KRU fires Kenya 7s head coach Innocent Simiyu

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The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has gone separate ways with Kenya national men’s sevens team Head Coach Innocent Simiyu.

According to KRU statement signed by the union’s Honorary Secretary Ian Mugambi on Wednesday, also leaving the Shujaa team are technical bench members Michael Shamiah and Anthony Muchiri.

“We offer our sincerest thanks to Innocent, Michael and Anthony for their tireless efforts and extend our very best wishes for the future,” the statement read.

Simiyu has been immediately replaced by Damian McGrath on a two-year contract deal, guiding the national men’s rugby set-up until the 2024 SummerOlympic Games in Paris, France.

McGrath boasts close to thirty years coaching experience, having most recently led Germany 7s to victory at the World Rugby Challenger Series in Chile in 2020.

He previously coached Canada 7s between 2016 and 2019, leading the Canadians to the cup title at the 2017 Singapore 7s.

Prior to the Canadian job, Damian was in charge of the Samoa 7s squad during the 2015-16 season, leading them to the cup title at the 2016 Paris 7s.

He also coached England 7s at the 2002 and 2014 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Glasgow as well as the 2005 Rugby World Cup 7s in Hong Kong.

Kevin Wambua, who has been a part of the Shujaa set up, will assist Damian in ensuring a seamless transition while Geoffrey Kimani takes up the Strength & Conditioning coaching role.

Kimani, who is part of the National Olympic Committee –Kenya Elite Performance set up, is no stranger to the Shujaa set up, and returns for a fourth stint, having previously served in the S & C role between 2007 and 2011, 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Meanwhile, Simiyu fondly known as Namcos is a former Kenya International and handled the team on the Sevens World Series between 2016 and 2018. He steered the team to 12th position with 63 points during the 2016/17 season before guiding them to 8th position with a record points tally of 104 points during the 2017/18 season.

He was once fired in 2018 before KRU hired him back in 2020 in a similar position.

Kenya hammered by Australia in Seville Sevens opener

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Kenya rugby sevens team showed no appetite for the game in their opening match of the Seville Sevens, allowing Australia ran riot and score 42-0.

It took the Aussies just four minutes into the match to figure out there was a mismatch in the forwards department courtesy of weight and in the process Henry Hutchison used his heels to step and floor Herman Humwa to score the first centre goal try that opened the floodgates with the half ending 21-0.

Australia hit hard with a series of attacks to suck in Kenyan tacklers in their rucks that turned out to be traps as the ball would be offloaded by Dietrich Roache to set up Henry Hutchison to score his brace with two  minutes to spare to the half time break.

The last minute of the opener half saw the Aussies control the game and they opted not to kick the ball to end the game when cornered in their half but instead continued with the attack that left Maurice Long race to the try box without contest to score the third converted try.

On resumption, a missed tackle by Billy Odhiambo left Corey Toole to race for the fourth try to confirm the shambolic display after the conversion that left Kenya trailing by 28 points. 

Kenya’s attempt to save face suffered a big blow a minute later when a turnover attempt was successfully halted courtesy of  a ball handling error that produced a loose ball picked by the wrong hands as Corey Toole raced to score his brace having been set up by Dietrich Roache. 

 The match did not end there as four minutes later Yool Yool delivered the sixth try at injury time to humble Kenya 42-0. 

Kenya 7s legend Humphrey Kayange enters World Rugby Hall of Fame

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Humphrey Kayange has been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

The Kenyan rugby sevens legend  enjoyed an illustrious 12-year career with the Kenya Sevens national team, Shujaa, captaining the side to the semi-final of the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

He was also part of the side that repeated this feat at the 2013 tournament in Moscow as well as the history making team of 2016 that won the Singapore Sevens, Kenya’s first ever World Sevens Series tournament title before taking part in that year’s Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Currently the athlete’s representative on the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, Kayange was part of the team put together by World Rugby to lobby for rugby seven’s inclusion at the Olympics.

He is also involved in philanthropic work under the Good Kenyan Foundation.

“I wish to extend a hearty congratulations message to Humphrey for his latest award. There couldn’t be a more impactful player to receive this award and cements his place in the annals of rugby history as one of the greats of the game.  Beyond his unparalleled success as a player, Humphrey has demonstrated great leadership capability by championing player welfare in his roles on the National Olympic Committee of Kenya and the International Olympic Committee. We are very proud of Humphrey’s top class achievements which underpin the class of the rugby man. Well done Humphrey,” said Kenya Rugby Union Chairman Oduor Gangla.

Kenya’s Shujaa seeded top for 2021 Safari Sevens

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Kenya’s rugby sevens team, Shujaa, have been seeded top seeds for this year’s Safari Sevens for the Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, on Saturday 30 October 2021.

They have drawn in Pool A alongside Zimbabwe, Germany and Nigerian side Stallion 7s.

Two time winners Samurai headline Pool B which also comprises SA All Stars 7s Academy, Red Wailers and Chipu 7s while Spain, defending champions Morans, Uganda and KCB make up Pool C.

The top two sides from each pool as well as the best two third placed finishers will advance to the cup quarter finals on Sunday as they seek to lay their hands on the overall title.

The women’s tournament has attracted five teams and will be played on a round robin basis. Kenya will field two teams with Zimbabwe, Uganda and South Africa’s Titans Rugby Academy rounding off the field.

Safari Sevens Pools

Pool A: Shujaa, Zimbabwe, Germany, Stallion 7s

Pool B: Samurai, SA All Stars 7s Academy, Red Wailers, Chipu 7s

Pool C: Spain, Morans, Uganda, KCB

Women

Kenya Lioness I, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Titans Rugby Academy, Kenya Lionesses II

Download the tournament pool and order of play on this link https://bit.ly/3BmBC1f

Kenya rugby 7s titan Amonde bows out of international stage

Posted on by <a href="http://www.sportsnews.africa/byline/xinhua/" rel="tag">XINHUA</a>

NAIROBI, July 28 (Xinhua) — Like any other Olympics, Tokyo 2020 will give the world one last glimpse of some great talent from around the world.

Team Kenya on Wednesday bid an international farewell to long-serving men’s rugby sevens captain Andrew Noel Amonde who is set to hang his boots.

As the Pacific Irelanders Fiji celebrated their second successive Olympics gold medal after beating New Zealand 27-12 in the final, Kenya sevens – locally known as Shujaa – finished ninth on Amonde’s last ever game for the side when they beat Ireland 22-0 on Wednesday.

Shujaa thus, avenged their shocking 7-12 loss to the Pool C minnows Ireland on Tuesday that saw them knocked out of the main competition at the first hurdle for the second successive Olympics.

Kenya opened with successive defeats to the United States (14-19) and continental rivals South Africa (5-14) and needed to beat the Irish to qualify for the quarters as one of the top two third-placed sides.That is when disaster struck for the East Africans when they went down two tries to one that left Australia and Canada as the two best third finishers when the preliminary round concluded on Tuesday. The result left Amonde, 37, who featured in his swansong competition for the East African side disconsolate and in tears.

“The thing is, we did not get it right with our mental [preparations]. When we needed to defend, we did not defend well. When we needed to keep the ball and score, we did not score,” Amonde rued when speaking to Kenyan reporters in Japan after the Ireland shock.

Things then took an emotional turn when it was put to him that his last chance to win an Olympic medal, a dream that has seen him extend his international career after Kenya finished 11th in Rio 2016, had sunk with defeat to the Irish.

“It’s something we can work on in the future. We will keep building because it is not the end of the world. To be honest, I would have loved to play in the medal bracket. It’s something that is very hard to take, it’s life, you lose some, you win some,” said Amonde who made his debut for Team Kenya sevens in 2006.

His heartbreak hurt his teammates who promised to give him a fitting send-off on Wednesday in the placement matches. The team earlier defeated hosts Japan 21-7 to set up this repeat clash against Ireland for a chance for revenge.

Johnstone Olindi scored and converted on the stroke of half time to give Shujaa a 7-0 lead at the interval. Three unconverted tries from Jacob Ojee, Willy Ambaka and Daniel Taabu secured the 22-0 result in what was Amonde’s final appearance in a Shujaa jersey after a 13-year playing stint.

Last Friday, Amonde was one of the Kenyan athletes chosen to carry the country’s flag during the opening ceremony in what kickstarted his farewell. His highlight with Shujaa was helping the team to the semi-finals of the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow, Russia.

 

Kenya men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams to Tokyo Olympics

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NAIROBI, Kenya, July 5, 2021/ — Andrew Amonde  will captain the Kenya Men’s Sevens National Team, Shujaa, to the Tokyo Olympics and is one of four survivors from the squad that did duty at the Rio Olympics in 2016 where they finished 11th overall. Also returning for their second Olympic appearances are Collins Injera, Billy Odhiambo and Willy Ambaka.

Commenting after unveiling the squad, Head Coach Innocent Simiyu said, “The selection was tough as all the boys put in the work. We are happy to have a few experienced players fit and back into the fold.Our key target is getting out of the pool. Our first pool game will set the standard for our performance in Tokyo.”

The men’s rugby sevens competition in Tokyo will run from 26th to 28th July and Shujaa are in Pool C of the twelve-team competition alongside South Africa, USA and Ireland.

Shujaa Olympic squad: Andrew Amonde (KCB,Captain), Alvin Otieno (Homeboyz), Vincent Onyala (KCB), Herman Humwa (Kenya Harlequin), Collins Injera (Mwamba), Daniel Taabu (Mwamba), Willy Ambaka (Kenya Harlequin), Johnstone Olindi (KCB), Eden Agero (Kenya Harlequin),Jeffrey Oluoch (Homeboyz), Nelson Oyoo (Top Fry Nakuru), Jacob Ojee (KCB), Billy Odhiambo (Mwamba) Non Travelling Reserves: Bush Mwale (Homeboyz), Derrick Keyoga (Menengai Oilers), Dennis Ombachi (Nondescripts) Management: Innocent Simiyu (Coach), Anthony Muchiri (Assistant Coach), Lamch Francis (Medic), Erick Ogweno (Manager)

Olando captains the Lionesses to Tokyo

Kenya women’s National Team Head Coach Felix Oloo has also named his 13 strong squad to do duty in the women’s Olympic Sevens competition in Tokyo from 29th to 31st July.

Captain Philadelphia Olando is one of three survivors from the Lionesses squad that played at the Rio Olympics in 2016, the others being Sheila Chajira and Janet Okello as the Lionesses seek to navigate their way out of Pool A where they will face New Zealand, Russia and Great Britain.

Oloo gave an insight into squad selection, saying, ” We based our selection criteria on attendance, discipline, medical assessment, player fitness as well as an understanding of the game and positional roles each player has. This is what guided our selection of the final 13 players.”

“We also have a few players who missed out on the selection because they are yet to recover from injuries picked up in previous tournaments.”

With the Lionesses drawn against New Zealand, Russia, and Great Britain, Oloo said, “I am very excited to play against the greatest teams in the world at the Olympics, much as we are the underdogs, we plan to play to win. We shall give our best and let character win the day when we take on to the pitch. We ask our fans back home to support us throughout the tournament.”

Lionesses Olympic Squad: Philadelphia Olando (Northern Suburbs, Captain), Sheila Chajira (Homeboyz), Stellah Wafula (Impala Saracens), Christabel Lindo (Impala Saracens), Leah Wambui (Homeboyz), Judith Auma (Homeboyz), Vivian Akumu (Top Fry Nakuru), Sarah Oluche (Mwamba), Grace Adhiambo (Top Fry Nakuru), Cynthia Atieno (Homeboyz), Janet Okello (Mwamba), Sinaida Aura (Northern Suburbs), Diana Awino (Impala) Non Travelling Reserve: Enid Ouma (Homeboyz) Management: Felix Oloo (Coach), Samuel Njogu (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Ben Mahinda (Medic), Camilyne Oyuayo (Manager).

Kenya 7s head coach Odera eyes elusive Rugby World Cup dream

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NAIROBI, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) — There is no doubt that Kenya has one of the most recognized rugby 7s playing teams in the world.

It’s flamboyant national team in the shorter version of the game famously known as Shujaa (hero) is one of the most visible and notable brands in the elite HSBC World Sevens Series circuit.

The East African country renowned for its distance running prowess has made it to the Rugby World Cup Sevens’ semi-finals twice in the Dubai 2009 and Moscow 2013 editions.

Besides qualifying for the Rio 2016 and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, rugby 7s was readmitted back to the Summer Games roster.

However, that success has not been replicated in the longer version of the game, 15s, with Kenya still seeking the elusive ticket to the quadrennial Rugby World Cup (RWC).

Continental rivals, South Africa, won the last edition of the showpiece in Japan last year, a victory that resonated well with the rugby-loving public in Kenya who would cherish nothing more than seeing their beloved Simbas (lions) scale the same stage.

Speaking to Chinese cable television news broadcaster, CGTN Africa’s weekly Sports Scene show, Paul Odera, Kenya 15s head coach and retired international, outlined the vision they have to qualify for their maiden RWC in France.

With South Africa way out of sight in terms of 15s rugby in the continent, the only hope Kenya and all other nations have to make the RWC is clinching a ticket by winning the African title.

Namibia has denied Kenya that elusive slot in the running for the 2015 and 2019 editions, and Odera knows overcoming the South Africans will bring their RWC dream to reality in the forthcoming continental championships.

“It’s about the culture. We are not going to compete financially; we won’t even be as big as Namibians. The first step has been setting up a very firm culture and a value system within the Simbas.

“It’s got to be something that is unshakable and strong that the boys believe it, and we all believe it as management,” Odera noted.

The former Under-20 head coach was appointed to his position in December last year and believes local talent alone will not carry Kenya through to the RWC.

“We need to try and use data to select the best Kenyan team of rugby players across the world. Whether we have players in Australia, South Africa, England, and even here in Kenya, it’s now to set up a database and a system of analysis to determine which players can run on the field to represent Kenya,” he added.

Odera, appointed to the position after winning the 2019 Barthes Cup where the Under-20 side beat Namibia in the final, believes blending players in the senior side will bring the country closer to the RWC based on his experience in his squad.

This, he remarked, means having players of different backgrounds, including tapping into the settler community in Kenya and those from different regions in the country.

He further noted meticulous planning was part of the key lesson he learned from his stint as the Under 20 boss that he wants to carry to the senior side. His technical team comprises Jimmy Mnene (Team Manager), Ben Mahinda (Team Physiotherapist), Edwin Boit (Team Analyst), Michael Owino (Strength and Conditioning Coach), and Albertus Van Buuren (Backs Coach). Odera holds a World Rugby Level 3 Coaching Certificate and is also a World Rugby Coach Educator.

He is also a teacher at a Nairobi-based private institution, Peponi House Preparatory School.

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