Samuel Asati and George ‘Japolo’ Ooro will co-captain the Kenya Sevens team for the World seven series legs in Dubai and Cape Town next month.
The two replace Tony Onyango and Vincent Onyala who still have contractual disputes with the Kenya Rugby Union.
Asati and Ooro played at the Safari Sevens in Machakos and head coach Kevin Wambua expects Onyala and Onyango to return to their captaincy roles when the series heads to Perth, Australia in January.
“I expect them to be back in the new year for the third leg. I am in communication with them and they have expressed their reservations about the contract. However, I believe KRU will sort it out in the next couple of weeks,” added Wambua.
Wambua has called up Zetech Oaks rising star Brian Ondego to the 13-man squad.
The tactician said with eight of the players playing in the World Sevens Series for the first time, he is hopeful the players will rise to the occasion.
“Most of the players in the team except Kevin Wekesa, Ooro and Dennis Abukuse have not played at this level. However, with the help of the technical bench and the likes of Andrew Amonde, we have shared our ideas, thoughts and experiences and I believe the players will be ready,” observed Wambua.
Shujaa are in a tough Pool A where they face Olympic champions France, bronze medallists South Africa and Australia.
Wambua said they hope to do a video analysis on all three teams in the pool before meeting them.
“Our opening match will be France who are the top side but there are weaknesses which we can exploit. We pushed Australia close in the Olympics and South Africa and this being an African derby, It could go either way,” he added.
Assistant coach Louis Kisia said they have dissected all facets of play from the kickoff reception, attack, defence and the setpiece.
“We have analysed all our facets of play and worked on them from our last tournament. We had some challenges in the Safari Sevens and the boys are improving on them,” Kisia said.
Ooro said it was great to have Shujaa back in the World Seven Series and promised to work hard to retain the core status.
“It’s been a tough journey from the Challenger Sevens Series back to our core status and we want to stay there,” added Ooro.
Cape Town, South Africa will be next in line after the Dubai leg.
The
team departs Monday for Dubai.
