I almost did not do one this week as my colleagues have aptly vented on my behalf. So I'll be brief.. he he.
What do we really want as a rugby playing nation? Are we a World Power in the sport? Are we even an African Power in the sport? The best we have come is third in a CAR competition that had weird qualification process that UGANDA won! What then is our rush to prove we are a force to reckon with in World or even African Rugby? What have we put in place in order to have such high expectations? If our only measure of how good our rugby is is an annual fixture against Uganda, and now Zimbabwe, both countries ranked lower than us in the IRB rankings then we are sunk. Ruggerbug asked, why spend so much money to go and get thumped in some obscure province in South Africa? 3 years ago, we beat Namibia on home soil. Namibia ended up winning the World Cup qualifiers and are New Zealand bound. This past weekend, they won the IRB Nations Cup and are now ranked 20th in the World! Are we looking at what these guys are doing as opposed to what we are doing? Just a fan also queries the use of the Rugby Super Series. I tend to differ on that one, but I get his point. To what end is the Super Series if merely for selection? If the whole process does not lead to improved training and performance by the National team then it is all in vain!
I promised to be brief. Calls are now resounding that heads must roll. From calls that it's time for the coach to move on, to players must answer, I fully believe the buck stops somewhere else. If all has not been put in place for the technical team to work in a conducive atmosphere and the players not being adequately compensated or remunerated for their efforts, I do not believe that to be the answer. So who will we pick? The coach who's team won the Kenya Cup, the Super Series, the National Sevens Circuit, or our definition of the seniormost coach in Kenya (your interpretation of that is as good as mine)? My call, it is time for the board to admit it has no idea what modern rugby is about and step aside and let the clubs select people who understand. The events of the last two weeks or so have been damning testament of this!
6 comments:
Well said. Couldn't agree with you any more or less. However before the Board steps out as indeed they should as a bunch of failures, can they at least provide proper accounts so that when somebody else (Peter or Max or Muthee or Nyamodi) come in, they know where to start. And by the way the Board should not leave Ollows and the GM behind when parking their bagz.
Did the extras who used free Kenya Airways tickets to the Mpumalanga trip also get allowanzes?
Good ramble except the part on the Irb rankings bse Kenya only leapfrogged Uganda 2 weeks ago in the Irb worl rankings but Since 2006 Uganda has always ended the year ranked above Kenya.Infact in 2007 when Uganda won CAR they reached an all time high in the Irb rankings of 32.Have we ever reached that high in the Irb rankings?The way Zimbabwe are playing no one will beat them in at home in the Vic cup and they will be a strong force in the next 2 years
rudge isnt a sport like soccer where if you play brazil you learn a thing or two, i reckon we should stick to playing UG and ZIM and beat them consistently before thinking we can even threaten anyone else. The reason we beat these two teams is really because of talent.... there dont seem to be any structures as a result we dont have a typical kenyan way of playing the game, guys are unfit / physically weak, there is a blatant lack of skills and knowledge on the finer aspects of coaching.......basically what has changed from high school where the games teacher read a book on rugby and watched some games on tape then told guys to tackle the crap out of each other till games time was over??
Contrary to what you are saying, playing better teams results in improvement of your game. Examples of teams that have done that are Italy, USA, Argentina and even Uganda who benefited from playing Kenya. Sure, we'll get thumped a few times but in the process we will get better just as the 7s team did by playing at high levels. Another thing is that since we lack the structure to nurture top class playing talent, why not have a system where scouts from professional teams overseas anonymously come to the country to watch YOUNG talent in display and give the opportunity for professionalism and hence develop our players. Unfortunately for this to work there needs to be a union more concerned about developement of the game rather than monetary profit.
anon @ 9:55 - my point exactly. There are ways to leverage these opportunities, we just don't know how!!
i see your point,the only avenue available for players to get a taste of that professional environment is in the 7z squad. but it leaves out more than 3/4z of our ruby players. all this talent just sits back in kenya roting away in the sub-standard level of rugby.ur as good as the level of rugby in your country.expoze these young guys and lure them back for international matches its a difficult process but its possible dan adongo was picked by scouts who came 4 7z am sure ushering more scouts tp the country will be good for the young boys
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