Year-In-Review: Simbas, Shujaa endured a vapid 2022 calendar

Coming from an already difficult period when the novel Coronavirus paralysed sports globally and with meager resources to support the sport, the rugby fraternity was staring at a precarious situation.   

Federations were crumbling with fingers pointing in all directions, a clear sign that all wasn’t well at the Ngong Road based home of rugby.

Despite coming off a bad season in the international IRB sevens series, hope was that with the installation of a new English coach in the form of Darmian McGrath, good days were in the offing.

Shujaa limped to the end of the 2021 campaign with a few flashes of their old brilliant self but what followed in the off season showed we had a long way to go.

The Kenya Rugby Union elections were twice postponed for various reasons but they were lastly conducted on September 7, 2022 albeit in very dubious ways.

The team started the 2022/23 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Hong Kong with Kenyans pregnant with hope that the sleeping giant would roar with renewed energy and vigour ready to topple the rugby heavyweights as they have often done in the previous years.

We however suffered some rude awakening as the team lost all group matches including a shock 19-14 loss to Canada in the final group game.

Shujaa couldn’t rescue their tournament as they finished winless and last in the standings.

This spelled the worst for the rugby enthusiasts back at home, with Kenya sevens Coach Darmian McGrath having highlighted the team's struggles even before the team left for Hong Kong.

“I knew life wasn’t going to be straight forward here in Kenya but I never had the idea that it would be this difficult. These guys deserve better. If you look at the three teams we have in our group (Ireland, Argentina and Canada) they are tier one teams and they are preparing in a way we can’t even dream of.”

Dubai sevens laid bare the team's struggles as star players fundraised on social media platforms to ensure they travelled for the second leg of the season.

Online pleas from former and current Shujaa players drew the attention of the new Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba who publicly called out the leadership of the rugby union.

“I spent a whole half day with these federations. I remember the Kenya Rugby union was represented at the very highest level at Kasarani and they did not mention a thing about this issue. I was quite upset that they would allow players to go for months without pay and release part of the team to Dubai without allowances.”

The ministry consequently promised to foot the travel bill as well as player allowances but only directly to their account since there was already mistrust between the involved parties.

The team made the trip to the Sunny indulgent and glamorous Dubai town, registering slight improvement from their previous outing, finishing 11th overall after losing the Challenge trophy semi-finals 21-17 to Fiji

McGrath has openly criticized the country’s lack of plan for the future as he pointed out the clear lack of a roadmap for talent development despite having a large pool of prospects.

The unforgivable lack of training facilities has hardly affected the team’s tactical ability as they can barely afford a fully equipped gym to train ahead of championships as well as lack of quality playgrounds for honing of talents.

“We are trying to compete on equal footing with countries that have far more resources and better facilities which allows their countries to perform better. You only have to look at the facilities here at KRU where we are trying to compete by using a gym that is not fit for purpose and a field that we can hardly use,” McGrath recently remarked as he prepared the team for the Hamilton sevens tournament in New Zealand.

Transition in the teams has been a major talk point over the years and veteran Kenya sevens player Collins Injera says more is to be done to ensure smooth transition from one generation to the other. He’s criticized the total overhaul of the team, leaving no prints for team culture and/or style of play. Integrating the new players in the side has been an uphill task owing back to our lack of proper professionalism in the game.

Injera who is ranked second in the world in try scoring with 279 tries for the Shujaa side, opines that transition should be gradual and not total overhaul.

“It can be like the way it used to happen in our days. I remember my time it was me and Biko (Adema) who were added to the team and they played like the whole season with only two rookies. Then the next year one or two guys are added and that’s how transitions happen all over the world. You see the problem with us is we keep thinking that other people’s solutions will work for us.

"For instance you will see a team like Fiji or New Zealand having five or seven new guys and they still perform well but these guys have been playing rugby since they were five year old's. A team like New Zealand, a child who is 15 or 17years is ready to play the series but our 17 year old's are not at that level. Our 17-year-olds are guys who started playing rugby maybe a year ago.”

Injera also noted that the numerous off-pitch issues have been cancerous to our rugby playing a huge role in the deterioration of our game. The lack of a proper model of compensation and payment of allowances has left national team players wearing the Shujaa stripes just for pride as they struggle to meet daily needs of their families.

 “The many off-pitch issues are the ones that really demotivate these players. A guy comes to the national team thinking if I play well I will be taken care of well. Suddenly you get there and it’s a different ball game.”

Shujaa have one of the biggest and most adored fan bases across the globe and it’s been disheartening to watch the distraught fans hoping and still waiting for a statement win in the international series.

However all is not lost for the game we love if the recent developments are anything to go by.

The national team together with the Under-20 side recently received a much needed shot in the arm after securing a 3-year sponsorship deal to the tune of 126m shillings. An allowance structure has already been developed by the sponsor in conjunction with the rugby union, a scheme that will see players duly appreciated for any points scored, matches won as well as tournament win bonuses.  

The Kenya Lionesses have already secured their ticket to the 2023 Africa Rugby Cup tournament, which also serves as the 2023 world cup qualifier. They are in Group A alongside African champions South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. 

They are hoping to jet out soon for a high performance camp in readiness for the 2023 Rugby Africa tournament.

The struggles have not been on the national sides only, but their turn of fortunes sends positive signals to the rest of the fraternity that good times lie ahead.