Over 10 days since the Dubai tournament ended, the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) officials must still be grinning from ear-to-ear after the bad performance of the Sevens team, this past weekend’s performance in South Africa and the coach resigning notwithstanding.
For the first time in ages, the team recorded a feat no rugby supporter wants to talk about. Since when did our Sevens warriors go to the battle and return home thrashed and deflated with their tails between their legs!
The shame of not winning a single match at such an event is embarrassing and will stay with us for years to come. For the Love of the Game shed a tear for the Sevens team after the completion of the tournament and to date, I still have heartache.
It is unbelievable that the team only managed a single win in six games in the bowl and shield games, where they were trampled upon by countries that in the past they ran over. That is how low we have sunk.
Ironically, Coach Paul Treu still had the guts to address the Press and say they played their best .....blah..blah..blah and that every team has been improving over the year thus competition is tough .....blah..blah..blah. Surprisingly, two weeks later, Treu still had his job and his hefty pay, and the rugby bosses hoped he will lift the team higher. Coach Treu had remained true to his lacklustre performance since he took over – limping from one loss to another.
Anyway, perhaps Treu was not to blame. It is said a coach is as good as his charges, which brings me to the crux of this piece. The fall of the Sevens rugby team started with the dismissal by KRU of veterans Lavin Asego, Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera, among others, allegedly because they had asked for players’ welfare to be improved.
Union officials then handed Coach Treu ‘greenhorns’, and as they say, garbage in, garbage out. The result of this goof is now out in the open.
Well, union officials led by chair Mwangi Muthee may be celebrating their handiwork, but by now they must have also learned how not to treat players.
On that note, For the Love of the Game would like to officially launch a campaign dubbed #BringBackRugbyVeterans to save the sevens game and the face of our country.
I believe South Africans, who gave us Coach Treu, must have wet their pants as they laughed at us after the humiliating defeat in Dubai because we have ceased to be a threat.
Remember we once hammered them like thieving dogs. Folks, #BringBackKayange #BringBackInjera #BringBackAsego or else you will continue getting beatings!