Ex-Shujaa coach Murunga alleges favouritism in national call-ups

 Former National Rugby Sevens head coach Paul Murunga has faulted the current technical bench headed by Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua of poor player selection resulting in poor performance of Kenya’s second-string team, the Morans, in the just concluded Rugby Africa Sevens Cup.

The veteran tactician, pouring his heart out on his personal social media handles, wondered how none of his former players at the Kenya Harlequins who are the reigning national sevens circuit champions made it even to the Morans, blaming the result on poor selection.

Kenya fell 19-21 to Madagascar in the third place play off.

“National team players are selected from clubs. Any outstanding players in the local league deserve a chance in the national team. If a player is on form at that particular time, give him a chance. The fastest man represents the country in 100m after beating the rest on speed, so the best rugby players should represent the country after outstanding performance in the local league. You can’t cheat in sports; performance will expose you.” 

He went on:  “I don’t understand why out of the 24 players that played and won Ingo 7s, Driftwood 7s and overall sevens circuit, none of them is in the Shujaa or Morans squad.”

‘Pau’, as he's commonly known in rugby circles, claimed that players were selected based on their personal relationships with the current technical bench and not on merit.

The rugby fraternity has been rife with accusations and counter accusations of player mismanagement and neglect following the ouster of former Kenya Rugby Union chairman Alexander “Sasha” Mutai.