Kenya Sevens coach Damian McGrath faces his first major test as the Toulouse Sevens starts today in France.
The Englishman will take charge of Shujaa as they seek to rediscover their lost glory in the circuit.
Kenya are currently languishing in position 10 on the log with 37 points—a far cry from past years, where the country has always challenged for the top eight.
Shujaa open their fixtures against the Olympic champions Fiji at 3:34 pm. The two sides have clashed twice this season with the Pacific Islanders winning both encounters 19-5 in Dubai and 38-5 in Vancouver.
Kenya’s second match will be against the hosts France at 11:05 pm. The two sides met in Malaga with Kenya beating France 26-5.
Shujaa’s final match will be against Wales on Saturday at 3:12 pm. Wales beat Kenya in Malaga, winning 19-14.
Assistant coach Kevin Wambua said the team arrived earlier in the week and were looking forward to a competitive outing in the pool. “It’s been an inconsistent season and we want to finish on a high and reduce our error rate. We want to play good rugby here in France and England for the next two weeks,” he added.
Alvin ‘Buffa’ Otieno, Timothy Mmasi and Johnstone Olindi make a welcome return to the team after missing the Vancouver and Singapore Sevens last month while fleet-footed Black Blad winger Arachadius Kwesa will make his debut alongside Ben Salem.
Wambua termed the pool tough and has asked his charges to finish the season on a high. “The two tournaments will be key as we look at Commonwealth Games and World Cup later in the year. We need to start winning matches to gain confidence ahead of two big tournaments later this year,” said Wambua.
Skipper Nelson Oyoo said McGrath has started working on the skill-set of the players. “Our basic skills have been a problem so we are looking at improving it and being able to qualify for the quarterfinals this weekend,” noted Oyoo.
Out of the six tournaments played this season, Shujaa have only made it to the Main Cup quarterfinal twice in Dubai in November last year.
