NAIROBI, Kenya, February 27 – Safaricom has pledged to reward the national sevens rugby team if they reach the main cup finals and semi finals of next month’s Rugby World Cup Sevens.Each player will receive Sh0.5 million if they reach the main cup final and Sh250,000 if they reach the main cup semis.
“I’m happy to be part of this now and I hope that Safaricom will become part of the rugby sevens in the future because it’s a very exciting game and Kenya is very good at it,” said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.
“Kenya has beaten New Zealand and South Africa in the last two legs of International Rugby Board (IRB) sevens series in Wellington and San Diego. Having beaten the top teams before, any team standing between the team and the trophy will have a tough task keeping them from taking it,” he added.
Kenya Rugby Football Union (KRFU) chairman Richard Omwela thanked Safaricom for the incentive stating that it will go along away in motivating the players in Dubai.
“We are very grateful for this gesture. No one else has given us this incentive and we will take it with both hands like how the players take the ball,”
Safaricom’s package was made possible by former national sevens and Nondies centre Shaka Kwach who is Safaricom’s Head of Core Network Operations.
“It makes me very proud to see that these players have come this far. For us, going into the world cup knowing that there is nobody we cannot beat on any given day including the likes Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand, I believe that this team has every chance of winning the World Cup,” said Kwach.
The fact that the campaign is being overseen by his former teammates is also pleasing to Kwach.
“I’ve played with and against Benjamin (Ayimba), Felix (Ochieng) and Oscar (Osir). To see them at that level gives me great joy because in the end rugby is a family”, said the KRFU board member.
Kwach is optimistic that the team will punch above their weight in the competition.
“I think we are going in with the best squad which is injury free. There quite experienced and we’re also quite skilled on the technical side of the game, so people will be sizing them up,” said Kwach.