KENYA Morans will grace the Benidorm Sevens in Spain in May and the Africa Cup Sevens tournament in June.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chairman Alexander Mutai said the event in Spain will act as a preparation as the team hopes to wrestle the Africa Sevens crown from Uganda The chairman said the tournament will attract top teams from the biggest rugby-playing nations.
“The full list is not yet out but we expect the top rugby nations to send their teams for the championship,” said Mutai.
For the Africa Cup, the Morans will seek to improve their lowly sixth place, where they bagged 20 points from the two tournaments in Mauritius.
Uganda carried the day, winning both legs and accumulating 40 points.
Mutai said this is part of the development for the Morans to play top-level rugby and create a pathway for them to be absorbed into the Shujaa side.
“If you observe most of the top countries in the world, they have second teams or development teams to feed the main team. That’s what we want to do with Morans for the next couple of years as well as utilise players who are coming through from either the Kenya Under-20 or the Kenya U-18 team,” added Mutai.
He said they are looking at the next Olympic cycle as part of the succession plan for the next four years.
“We must get a core group of players who will be available and at the same time be in the best possible shape to medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.”
Exposure he said will be vital.
“The short-term goal is to expose our players to as many high-profile tournaments as possible to be ready by the time they step up to Shujaa.”
On Shujaa’s recent struggles in the World Seven Series, Mutai was bullish that the side would find a way to remain a core side.
“The next three tournaments in Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore will be vital for the boys. We just need to find consistency for us to move up the table and I know they can,” noted Mutai.
Shujaa with the bronze medals at the Africa Games in Accra last year.
