NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 6- Kenya 15s head coach Ian Snook has allayed fears that he might follow his assistant Murray Roulston out of the team, saying he will stay on until the final game of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup against Namibia.
Before the game against Zimbabwe, Roulston announced that he was stepping down from his role due to lack of work permit as well as delayed payments and reimbursements.
“As from the beginning, my intention is to go through to the Namibia game then see where we are and see whether I am still required or not. We signed a one year contract with the option of two if we get through to the World Cup. When I came definitely I knew things wouldn’t t be smooth sailing,” Snook told Capital Sport.
The tactician has revealed that the passion and dedication showed by the players in training and on match days has played a crucial role in convincing him to stay and try get the job done.
“There’s always a little bit of thought in your mind that is it worth it? Then you get to the boys and see them putting in so much and then I put in as well, so we will keep it that way for now,” the coach said.
Roulston officially served his notice on Thursday and is set to leave the country by the 20th of this month. He has however continued to work with Snook and was on the bench against Zimbabwe last weekend.
“I don’t expect him (Roulston) to have a change of heart. He is serving his notice now and will be flying out around the 20th. He is working just as hard as he was before and at the moment we are trying our best to make the most of him before he leaves,” Snook said of his assistant’s imminent departure.
Snook says the issues raised by Roulston are yet to be resolved, but says he is hopeful things will be better, his focus remaining getting Kenya qualified for the World Cup in Japan next year.
“The things Murray raised I am going through them as well, but I am going through the process and I know there are some good people here who work to make sure things are done. I know there is a huge money issue here because otherwise we would have had several warm up games in South Africa,” the coach said.
He added; “The work permit hasn’t arrived yet; what we are working on right now are two-month permits. What we are looking for is the stamp on our passports, but we haven’t gotten there yet. But I am sure we will have that soon.”
The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has insisted that there isn’t nothing much they can do to salvage the situation, but the stars seem to shine on them with the Sports Ministry last week saying Sh21mn would be released to cater for the Union’s budgets.
KRU has been struggling since the pull out of headline partners SportPesa at the start of the year and they have solely been relying on government help.