Happy New Year - 2011

A Rugby World Cup year and much more rugby to look forward to on the world scene. Once more we are on the sidelines and wondering when we will grace that event. Though gracing is not much to look forward to as the divide between the nations is so great. And with the wrangles in CAR and a potential breakaway from it, the hope for developing rugby in Africa quickly is fast fading. But that was not mine for today.

The year 2010 stood out for me in that we finally made some attempt to structure our season in a sensible way and it may have worked for us. The shortened Kenya Cup was a price to pay and as I have advocated for in the past, sometimes things need to be done by fiat and not consensus, or else too many vested interests play in, and kudos for that.

In that revised format, we had the floodlit tournament, won by Impala quickly followed by the Kenya, taken by Quins. The Rugby Super Series followed and this went Rhinos way and paved way for the international season. Here Kenya swept all opponents and must be the first time to obtain a 100% win record. The new Kenya Cup season is underway and at the halfway stage at time of writing. Quins lead the pack, followed by Impala then Mwamba.

On the sevens front our national side started off strong before quickly fading. The slide has continued into the first legs of the new circuit and hopefully will be stemmed after people realise it affects us all, not just some individuals. The Safaricom Sevens also came and with greatly increased seating capacity, a much better experience. Though I will never leave my mantra - facility sharing. Makes sense and done the world over! The local sevens circuit was good, though not very revealing. Mwamba swept all and sundry aside to scoop the diadem and only natural attrition can stop this side from dominating the local sevens scene for a long time to come. The Shujaa side also played in a record number of tournaments this year, though I do not see where it is leading to as we just seem content to send a side..

On other matters the KRU advertised for two key positions recently, though not the one people expected the most. This should be the trend for all positions falling vacant and even for procurement of goods and services to the union. All in all, I had an enjoyable year and most of all, the blog has really picked. I like the banter but not the insults that only come from one corner. Let's hope people come into the new year, focused and ready to work, on improving Rugby in Kenya.

Do have a Happy New Year and I wish you all a Prosperous 2011.