Kenya national rugby 7s team,
Shujaa, was on Thursday honoured with a Sh1.35 million bonus following their
stellar performance in the Singapore leg of the World Rugby 7s Series.
The players and the technical bench
were each handed Sh75,000 as a bonus for the impressive performance by their
main sponsor, SportPesa.
SportPesa Chief Executive Officer Ronald Karauri congratulated Shujaa for their good run in the Singapore Sevens and wished them all the best in the Los Angeles Sevens playoffs.
“You guys have no idea how proud you have made us. When we started this partnership, especially for the second time, Shujaa were not in the HSBC Sevens,” said Karauri.
“People thought we had a lot of money to splash around, but we had faith in the
team and knew they had potential to perform.”
Karauri said Kenya has more potential that needs to be tapped from the grassroots level and nurtured into great players.
The Kasarani Member of Parliament was speaking at the Double Tree Hotel in
Nairobi on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, during a breakfast in honour of the team,
courtesy of their title sponsor, SportPesa.
“Just a year ago, we made a deliberate move to stay in the partnership. We restructured to the SportPesa 7s, the local circuit engagement that birthed this young squad, which went ahead to conquer the Africa 7s and booked their slot in the Olympics,” noted Karauri.
Shujaa’s good run saw them reach the finals of the Singapore 7s on April 1–2, but they lost 21-12 to Fiji in the final.
The gaming firm is the main KRU sponsor. Others are Crown Paints and Safaricom
through M-Pesa.
Shujaa co-captain George Ooro expressed deep gratitude for SportPesa’s steadfast support during a challenging relegation period.
He assured fans of the team’s commitment to excel in Los Angeles, playfully
adding, “We will deliver a bonus performance, tutaikujia tena.”
Head Coach Wambua acknowledged the team's significant achievement in Singapore, viewing their second-place finish as a major milestone.
He confidently stated, “I’m 100% sure we will deliver in Los Angeles.”
Meanwhile, KRU chairman Sasha Mutai echoed Karauri’s sentiments, saying rugby teams have proved they deserve more support, going by their great performance at international competitions.
“I appeal to the government to pump more money into this team. Other sports get
a lot more money than us while we are beating the best teams in the world. The
men’s and women’s 7s teams have produced great moments in the World Series and
the Challenger Series,” Mutai said.
On their return to the top tier,
Shujaa improved significantly, boasting a young but hungry group of players
under head coach Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua.
Meanwhile, the women’s sevens side,
Lionesses, defeated Thailand 27-19 on April 7 to finish in third place at the
Krakow leg of the 2025 HSBC Women's Challenger Series.
Both sides will battle at the Los
Angeles playoffs on May 3–4, with Shujaa fighting to maintain their World
Series status while the Lionesses chase their maiden qualification to the HSBC
World Series.
