Kenya Rugby: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

Rugby is alive and kicking in Kenya. There is no doubt that this is
the sport of the moment. A huge chunk of the credit goes to Kenya 7's
team. Collins Injera, Humphrey Kayange and the rest of the team are
global superstars. They have captured the imagination of the Kenyan
public as well as the World at large. Even the goverment has taken
notice with President Kibaki, PM Raila and Minister Sambili wanting to
be part of the fan entourage. The 7's team is our sporting gold and
there is no doubt they will run away with the trophy for 'Sports Team
of the year 2009'.

The rugby bouquet locally has been filled by the Bamburi Super 4
Series, JWRT and Impala Floodlit which were all held successfully and
judging by the crowd attendances hunger for rugby action was plenty.
The Safari Sevens being the icing of the cake left no doubt that the
apex had been reached.

Even the sponsorshipless but prestigious Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley
have taken off with plenty of enthusiasm and vibrancy. The Kenya Cup
looks like it will be down to the final game for us to know who the
2009 Kenya Champions will be. The Western Kenya side in the Eric
Shirley is causing ripples as they keep felling teams in their
backyard. The KRFU funded team are playing all their preliminary games
at home and giving the West Kenya a heavy dose of rugby as the game
seeks to take advantage of its strong school base making it more
popular.

Yet to come is the traditional battle between Kenya and Uganda known
as the Elgon Cup. The two games draw plenty of passion from both sides
of the border and this year there are more cross border issues at
stake.

The Africa under 19 championship will be held in August 2009 thus
bringing more international rugby right to our doorsteps. This is
indeed positive for Kenya Rugby. The KRFU would be well advised to
come up with a periodical newsletter.

The reintroduction of Kisumu Dala Sevens is the best news for our
people in Nyanza. The game in Kisumu was on the verge of going
extinct. Dala Sevens has put Kisumu back on the rugby map.

The Bad

With the KRFU's focus more on international type events the local
rugby suffers more neglect. The Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley are for the
umpteenth year without a sponsor. There is no support given to clubs
as they participate in this annual ritual religously and continue
churning out talent which are ungratefully snapped up by the national
teams without appreciating the efforts clubs have taken to nurture and
develop the players.

The management of this years season fixtures has left a lot to be
desired. The local calendar has been forced to fit in KRFU's
international events. Given a choice they would rather have postponed
this years local season to next year as they are too busy with
international planing.

The Kenya 15's are a sorry side and truth be told they are going
nowhere really. Whereas their 7's brethren are rubbing shoulders and
beating the worlds best occasionally, the same cannot be said of the
15's. Left to play with also rans in Morocco the inadequately prepared
team came second in Morocco having just beaten Senegal. The big trophy
they returned with really did not bring in any prestige as the
competition was a really low level competition. We should attempt to
play the Portugals, Spains, Namibias, Brazils, Japans, Germanys and
Belgiums in order to improve our rankings and really improve.
Listening to the technical team's excuses for defeat one really feels
sorry for them as they searched for words. Playing Uganda for
consolation is a pity as the Elgon Cup is in danger of becoming
meaningless. Let's now focus on the 15's. As can be seen some players
and clubs have no respect for the national 15's team.

The KRFU really needs to support the referees. These selfless men and
sometimes women are regularly orphaned as they execute their duties.
The Eric Shirley games are testimony to this.

Ladies rugby in Kenya is really not worth talking about in Kenya. We
cannot compete with our neighbours next door as they have much more
concrete structures. Uganda took part in the 7's World Cup for women.
They are are definitely miles ahead of us. Rwanda will catch up and
pass us too if we are not careful.

The selection for the Kenya under 19 needs to be more broad based this
time round. The coach needs to be in touch with fellow club coaches
and seek out the talent there. He already has set up the foundation
and all he needs is to solidify the base. We can definitely win this
one if we get the mechanics right.

The Ugly

The KRFU may blow their trumpets and thump their chests that they are
best run or running sports federation in Kenya. They even take it to
the point that they can even dare other federations to emulate them.
That is all a fallacy and misrepresentation of facts. The KRFU have
failed the transparency and accountability test. They have failed to
produce proper accounts over the last 3 years and cannot produce
reconciliation reports of various competitions they have held.
Ordinarily under the Societies Act the current officials should be
disqualified from holding office. As has been asked previously here
before who are Safari Sevens Ltd, Friends of Rugby Ltd and Kenya Rugby
Ltd. Why are the accounts/finances of these mysterious entities kept
away from public scrutiny yet the KRFU in all its formation, irregular
constitution and entirety are a public body with stakeholders. Time
for an independent audit and investigation is long overdue.