The past three weeks has seen a flurry of activity on the Rugby front. Sponsors seem to be falling out of the skies to support rugby. Zain started the flood, followed by Posta and now Western Union. Kenyan Rugby does seem to be attracting sponsors, finally. I dont know if it is the appointment of a General Manager that has put the house in order, or the directors are finally pulling the strings they hold in various corporate institutions. Whatever the case we are one step in the right direction. The only thought in my mind then is what is the cost of sponsoring the leagues and is it reachable? Going by the figures bandied around for the current three events, it must be an astronomic amount! The league runs the longest and offers the most visibility. Perhaps to adequately sell it to a sponsor we also need to go back to having a grand final for the leagues. All leagues world wide have turned to this format as it is the culmination and the sponsors day in the sun!
The National Sevens Circuit commences this week. For some reason, the Prinsloo Sevens is a twenty four team event while the other three are 16 team events. In the IRB circuit, there is one 24-team event, the Hong Kong Sevens. That the Hong Kong Sevens is one of the most competitive legs of the circuit is not in doubt. The organisers ensure that they invite top sides that increase the competition and hence warrants the awarding of more points for this leg of the circuit. And that there are seven other legs, it is possible to claw back from a mishap in this event. The KRFU have decided that for the Prinsloo Sevens, more points will be at stake. Notwithstanding the fact that teams the likes of Methodist University, Kabarak University, Eldoret exiles and numerous other "social" rugby sides will take part, I personally do not see it as a more competitive event. The matches are fewer (per team) and the competiton lousy. A twist of fate with the luck of the draw as well as the ever controversial system of determining "best losers" could lock out a couple of very good teams as well as allow through some sub-standard sides into the main competition. Add to that that there are only four rounds in the tournament and you can see that the winner of the event will have a clear, nearly unassailable, ten-point lead going into the last three rounds! I aver that the points distriubution should remain the same as there is no justification for "more points".
See you all in the Rift Valley this weekend.
1 comment:
Predictions Bwana! Mwamba seem set 2 dominate, with Impala also grabbing some. They do hav the bulk of players in the national side. Wat say you?
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