Shujaa Coach names 15 man squad ahead of European assignment

By Peter Ochieng

National Sevens team Head Coach Damian McGrath on Friday named a 15 man strong squad ahead of next weekend's European assignment.

Shujaa will be among the teams in action, during the final two rounds of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series in Toulouse, France and London, England.

McGrath named the travelling party at the team's training base, the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi.

“We’ve picked a very solid and experienced squad, it’s as experienced as we could get. The boys all understand what’s at stake, and we are just going to play to our best," he said.

“The key to it all is can we eradicate our own mistakes which has been our Achilles heel. We’ve got a very simple plan that we hope suits what we have and we’ll try and follow it through, ” he added.

His sentiments getting support from Humphrey Kayange, former Shujaa skipper and Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Director in charge of national squads.

Kayange said the focus remains getting results.

"Throughout the season we’ve had some good plays, we’ve had moments where we didn’t get lucky in terms of getting our results in. Such is the nature of sport. The main task for the team going out is focus on Toulouse and work very hard to ensure we get results and maintain our status on the series.”

SHUJAA SQUAD: Nelson Oyoo (Captain), Herman Humwa, Edmund Anya, Brian Tanga, Johnstone Olindi, Alvin Otieno, Kevin Wekesa, Jeff Oluoch, John Okoth, George Ooro, Daniel Taabu, Denis Abukuse, Billy Odhiambo, Ronaldo Omondi and Tony Omondi.

During the Toulouse circuit, Shujaa will play against Uruguay and New Zealand on Friday, 12th May 2023, before concluding group games against Canada a day later.

The action will then move to England the following weeken