Kenya celebrate the Challenge Trophy win over Wales on day two of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in London on 3rd June, 2018. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 11 – Five local coaches have applied for the position of Kenya Sevens head coach ahead of the interviews set to be conducted this week, Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) announced on Tuesday.
Reports indicate that Homeboyz coach Paul Murunga is among the front runners, having been part of the successful set up when he assisted Benjamin Ayimba to guide Kenya to their first ever HSBC Sevens World Series Main Cup title in 2016.
KRU also confirmed that a total of seven foreigners have applied for the head coach job, seeking to replace Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu who led the team to two Main Cup finals last season.
The Strength and Conditioning position has attracted eight applicants comprising of five locals and three foreigners in a role that was handled by Geoffrey Kimani.
The physio’s position has seen nine candidates apply for the post all of them being local while a further 11 local applicants have expressed interest in the Team Manager’s job.
Simiyu’s contract comes to an end next month (October) and he said he will not re-apply for the post after serving the team for two seasons.
He guided Shujaa to the best ever points tally, breaching the 100-point mark for the first time after accumulating 104 last season.
However, his tenure had an anti climax ending when he was fired after the final round of 2018 season but rehired just before the World Cup over the saga surrounding the masking of sponsors on the team’s shirt due to a financial row.
The team ended up flopping at the World Cup in San Francisco, USA, winning only one match and finishing 16th out of 24 teams.
