Shujaa head coach Damian McGrath has named a 15-man traveling party to the final two rounds of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series in Toulouse, France and London, England respectively.
Speaking during the squad announcement at the team’s Kasarani training base, McGrath said: “We’ve picked a very solid and experienced squad. The boys all understand what’s at stake and we are just going to play to our best.”
He added: “We need to eradicate our own mistakes which have 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”.
Shujaa had a dismal show in the Singapore Sevens last month and improvement is needed in the remaining legs.
“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 the sport,” Humphrey Kayange, a former Shujaa skipper and KRU Director in Charge of National Squads said.
He added: “The main task for the team going out is to focus on Toulouse and work very hard to ensure we get results and maintain our status on the series.”
Shujaa are drawn in Pool A alongside series leaders New Zealand, Uruguay and Canada.
Shujaa are in 13th place on 37 points after nine rounds of the season and must put in a performance in Toulouse that will see them finish at least 11th overall, a result that would see the team retain its core status.
Failure to do so will consign the team to a playoff to determine the 12th team for the reimagined series which will be whittled down from 16 to 12 teams from 2024.
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, Tony Omondi
