After a successful tour of Wellington -New Zealand- and Las Vegas -USA- during the fourth and fifth legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series, the Kenyan rugby 7’s team landed home on Thursday morning to a heroic welcome at the JKIA in Nairobi.
The team had been scheduled for arrival on Wednesday morning but after a delayed departure from Las Vegas and a late arrival in London, they found their Kenya Airways flight had already departed and had to spend a day in London.
The team returned without two players Humphrey Kayange and Dennis Ambunya who connected to London and South Africa respectively for studies. It is not clear whether the two players will be available for the next legs in Hong Kong in March.
“The Union is trying to get in touch with their universities to see possibilities of them joining us for the two legs but then if their schedule does not allow, we have other players who can step up and fill in their absence.” Said Coach Mitch Ocholla.
After landing, the team was treated to a welcome breakfast ceremony courtesy of team sponsors Kenya Airways.Titus Naikuni the CEO at Kenya Airways while speaking during the breakfast meeting congratulated the boys for rejuvenating the hopes of Kenyans with a sterling performance that saw them lift bowl title in Wellington and Plate in Las Vegas. This ensured Kenya earned massive 13 points that improved her IRB world rankings from 14th to 12th worldwide.
Naikuni assured of his company’s continued commitment towards supporting the Rugby team for better success in future legs.He suggested a detailed review of the two legs by all the stakeholders (Players, union and sponsors) that will guide in plotting an even better performance in the next leg in Hong Kong.
“It was a brilliant performance and I take this opportunity to thank the team for making us proud. I urge the Union, players, technical bench and us as sponsors to sit down immediately and review our performance in the last two legs, see where we went wrong and improve on our strengths so we can attack the next leg with a better performance.” He said.
Considering the team had performed poorly in the recent legs, the two outings in Wellington and Las Vegas are a good sign of better things for Kenyan rugby that had been facing a continuous dip in form. The return of key players in the team including Lavin Asego, Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera was key for the team’s revamped form.
Sports commissioner Gordon Oluoch represented the government during the welcoming ceremony.
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