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CRY
Kenya Sevens coach Kevin Wambua remains optimistic that co-captains Tony Omondi and Vincent Onyala will return to the team after their exclusion from the squad.
Onyala and Omondi have been dropped from the team that will feature in the World Rugby Series legs in Dubai and Cape Town following a contract standoff between the duo and the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU).
The two have not signed the new two-year contracts handed to the squad by KRU, after expressing reservations over the terms of the deals, and that forced Wambua to look elsewhere with a number of new faces included in the team for the Dubai and Cape Town legs.
Kenya Rugby Union is standing its ground over the contracts offered to Shujaa players as a number of senior players have boycotted training demanding for better terms ahead of the Dubai leg.
Shujaa will now be captained by Samuel Asati and George Ooro with Kelvin Wekesa, William Mwanj, Brian Mutua, Chrisant Ojwang, Nygel Amaitsa and speed star Patrick Odongo among some of the familiar faces in the squad, while Brayan Ondego is set to make his debut.
There is also Dennis Abukuse, Festus Shiasi, Benson Salem, Floyd Wabwire and Brayan Ondego in the relatively young squad that Wambua is banking on as he hopes that the contract standoff will be solved by the time the team returns from Cape Town.
“In regards to Tony and Onyala, I have been in constant communication with them even this week. It is just contractual, something we are talking and hopefully by the time we come back, by the time we start the next block, everything will be sorted and is not like they have been chased away by anybody is just that they have not signed the contract and not available for these first two legs,” Wambua said on Thursday after unveiling his squad.
“Also, even if they showed up, they still have to meet some KPIs in terms of fitness and everything else and since they haven’t been around for quite some time, it will be a long season and our goal is to retain our core status so we take this opportunity to build depth in terms of the leadership and exposing more players.”
Wambua remains confident the squad will perform well regardless of the circumstances with their target for the season being a top eight finish that will secure their place in the top flight following their promotion in June.
“Three quarters of the squad played in Safari Sevens and were part of Morans and Shujaa so for us, it is all about trusting the system and continuing to work. We know individual players bring individual quality but if you want to be at the top and stay there, it has to be a system and complete process,” he added.
Kenya Rugby Union has revealed what they want Kenya Sevens to achieve in the 2024-25 World Series after earning promotion back to the top flight in June.
The Dubai leg will take place between November 30 and December 1 with Kenya in Pool A alongside France, South Africa and Australia.
