Kenya Sevens coach on why he snubbed John Okoth, Chrissant Ojwang ahead of LA 7s
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Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 28.04.25. | 17:11
Okoth had been enjoying a strong showing at the 2024 Kabeberi 7s before suffering a tibia fracture that curtailed his momentum
Kenya Sevens head coach Kevin Wambua has shed light on the decision to leave out reliable forward John Okoth and powerful centre Chrissant Ojwang from the squad heading to the high-stakes Los Angeles 7s Promotion/Relegation Playoffs set for Saturday, 3 to Sunday, 4 May.
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Both Okoth and Ojwang have recently returned from injury but were not selected to be part of the travelling party.
Wambua termed the selection process as a "good headache" given the quality at his disposal in the set-up, but emphasised the importance of sticking with the group that came in second during the Singapore 7s.
"John Okoth and Chrissant Ojwang, who are back from injury, pushed hard for slots, but we chose to stick with the team that did duty in Asia," Wambua explained.
Okoth had been enjoying a strong showing at the 2024 Kabeberi 7s before suffering a tibia fracture that curtailed his momentum. The injury required a lengthy rehabilitation period of three to six months.
Meanwhile, Ojwang, who plies his trade at Nakuru RFC, sustained a serious leg injury during the Dubai 7s in December, just moments after entering the ninth-place playoff match against Ireland as a second-half substitute.
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Shujaa, who finished ninth this season and missed out on automatic qualification behind Great Britain, have been drawn in Pool A alongside hosts USA, Portugal, and Samoa.
They will open their campaign against Samoa on Saturday at 9:28 PM, face Portugal on Sunday at 12:51 AM, and conclude the pool stage against the USA later that evening at 9:28 PM.
The stakes are even higher this year following a hint that World Rugby might trim the core sides from 12 to just eight teams, continuing a trend that began with a reduction from 16 teams two seasons ago.
According to Spanish outlet El Observador, financial pressures lingering since the COVID-19 pandemic have forced the global body to rethink its structure in a bid to make the series sustainable.
Under the new model, only the top four teams from the Los Angeles playoffs will secure places in a newly created second division, with the chance to feature in select main circuit events later in the season.
They will also receive the £300,000 (Kshs 51.4 million) financial package that the current core teams enjoy, but only for the first season, a concession made to ease the transition.
Failure to make the top four would see Shujaa relegated to the lower tiers of global sevens rugby, battling through additional qualifiers in future seasons. The new structure is expected to run until the end of the current Olympic cycle in July 2028.
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