Onyala returns as Coach Wambua names Kenya 7s travelling squad to Harare

Kenya 7s national rugby team head coach Kevin Wambua has named KCB playmaker Vincent Onyala in the 12-man team set to play at this weekend’s Rugby Africa Men’s 7s tournament set to take place in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The competition will also double up as the African Qualification Tournament for the rugby sevens competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Having been appointed as the team captain late last month, Onyala will be co-assisted by Tonny Omondi of Mwamba RFC in that role, as he makes a comeback to the team having sat out the better part of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series through injury.

The duo is among six regulars who make up the 12-man team to Harare, the others being Kevin Wekesa, Brian Tanga, John Okoth, and George Ooro.

“The squad is perfectly balanced,” Wambua said at the squad announcement on Tuesday morning in Nairobi. “We have six players who have been in the set up and six new boys coming in.

“Three of the new call ups were in the setup before and the other three are first timers and it is very important that we give the boys confidence because we know they have the ability to take on the rest of Africa.”

Among the players handed their maiden call-ups include Daystar Falcons flier Patrick Odongo as well as Kabras Sugar’s William Mwanji, Strathmore Leos’ Nygel Amaitsa and Festus Shiasi from KCB.

Samuel Asati (KCB) and Beldad Ogeta (Menengai Oilers) are also among the debutants for the tournament but had been capped before at test level.

The trio of Elvis Olukusi (KCB), Fidens Tony (Nondescripts), Ronnie Omondi (Mwamba) have on the other hand been listed as non-traveling reserves.

“We’ve had good preparations,” the head coach added. “We’ve had two back-to-back camps where we’ve taken the time to set our foundation on how we want to play.

“There are a few things we really wanted to improve and the camps were quite helpful. We are very grateful to St. Andrews’ Turi and look forward to more of that in the future.”

Kenya is placed in Pool B alongside Zambia, Namibia, and Nigeria, while South Africa, who will be taking part in this tournament for the first time after failing to secure a top four finish in the HSBC World Rugby Series, will be in Pool B with Madagascar, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast.

Pool C has Uganda, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, and Algeria.

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The winners of the 2023 African Cup will get an automatic ticket to the Paris Olympics, while the second and third-placed teams will have to go through a final qualification, the Repechage tournament in June 2024 whose winner will take the final spot.