Kenya 7s coach Kevin Wambua has termed the cancellation of the Rugby Africa season a big blow for the national squad that depends on the continental games to gauge themselves.
Shujaa, who are the reigning Africa champions, will not defend the title they won last year in Johannesburg, South Africa after Rugby Africa cancelled the 2020 season last week due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wambua described the situation as a missed opportunity for Kenya to rub shoulders with Africa's elite nations on the continent. “It's a missed opportunity for us. We always use some of the events to give some of young players a chance to test themselves against their peers on the continent," added Wambua.
Shujaa will, however, have a chance to play final four legs of the World Sevens Series with the London and Paris legs slated for September and the Singapore and Hong Kong tournaments scheduled for October should the situation improve by then.
Wambua has urged his fellow coaches to think outside the box and come up with plans which will keep the players active during this Covid-19 period.
“At the moment, we have to think outside the box for the benefit of our players. We need to have personalised training plans for the boys but the strength and conditioning coach should also be careful not to burn them out while ensuring they remain active,” added Wambua.
Kenya Lionesses head coach Felix Oloo said with the cancellation of the season, the team must go back to the drawing board.
"There cancellation means we go back to the drawing board on certain things that we had planned to work on this season.
"We shall, however, retain the current players in both Sevens and 15's because they’re already conversant with the way we plan on executing our plays.
"I have faith in the team we have and we will continue monitoring them until sporting activities resume. We also look at this from the positive angle, in that, the players who had picked up injuries early in the year have time to recover fully,” added Oloo.
The Lionesses were due to play Colombia in World cup qualifier in April while the Sevens side was to play in the World Seven Series qualifier in South Africa and feature in the Langford Sevens Series in May.
