Former KCB Rugby coach defends national teams' selection amid criticism

Former KCB Rugby and Kenya Simbas ace Oliver Mang’eni has stepped in to defend the national team selectors following a wave of criticism over perceived bias in player selection.

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The storm began last week when the Morans’ team for the Africa Men’s 7s assignment was named. Things escalated on Sunday, 22 June, when former Kenya Sevens coach Paul Murunga publicly questioned the omission of Kenya Harlequin players from the squad.

Murunga, who last year guided Quins to their first National Sevens Circuit title since 2012, questioned why not a single Quins player was selected.

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His concerns came after Morans lost 14-10 to a six-man Madagascar in the semifinals. The result saw them drop to the third-place playoff, where they lost to Zimbabwe to finish fourth in the tournament.

However, Mang’eni, who played 12 solid years for KCB Rugby and served as the team’s coach in the 2024/25 Kenya Cup season, insisted that selection must be based on performance and not emotion.

“The national team selection so far is great. Strong teams attract the best players because they are more visible. That’s just how elite sport works,” Mang’eni said.

The former lineouts master made a passionate case for the dominance of clubs like KCB, Kabras, and Menengai Oilers in the national team conversation.

There has been an ongoing debate on why the majority of players who feature for the national teams come from the three teams.

However, according to Mang’eni, the teams’ consistency in reaching finals and producing top-tier performances naturally puts their players in the spotlight.

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“Let me ask you, for instance, today you attend a tournament, and the player of the tournament comes from a team that did not reach the playoffs. How will you feel?

We tend to assume that the MVP should be on the best team. KCB and Kabras have been in the finals for many years; we will focus on their players.

So, when you keep seeing the same teams in finals, it is only logical that their players get the nod,” he stated.

For the former Chipu lineouts coach, club success is a key metric, not something selectors should ignore in the name of balance.

“National team is not a quota system. We are not trying to fill spaces with names from every club. We want good players. If they are mostly from the top three teams, then so be it,” he said.

Mang’eni also challenged players from less dominant clubs to rise to the occasion, rather than expect special consideration.

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“Maybe a player is perceived to be good, but they’ve never scored. Will they suddenly start scoring at the national team level? We don’t need to go lower to accommodate players. It’s the players who need to level up,” he offered.

In his view, the best response to being overlooked is to get better, not bitter.

“It is like someone complaining because their neighbour owns a car. Why not work to get your own instead of blaming them?” he added with a laugh.

His voice carries reason. Mang’eni played for the Bankers for 12 years, from 2010 until he retired at the end of the 2022 Kenya Cup season. He also played for Shujaa in the 2014–2015 season.

He is a serial winner, having claimed the Kenya Cup a record five times: in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. He won the Enterprise Cup on three occasions; in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and has five Impala Floodlit titles under his belt; in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019.

He won two consecutive National Sevens Circuit titles in the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons, the Rugby Africa Cup in 2013, and was part of the World Cup qualifiers squad that narrowly missed out on the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

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He also won rugby tests against Hong Kong, Portugal, and Spain in the 2015/2016 season.

Mang’eni represented Kenya in the Repechage in France in 2018 and played in the Currie Cup Division 1 in 2022 under Paul Odera.