MIRAMAS, France, Jul 12 – Shujaa’s high performance manager Chris Brown believes Kenya 7s team will go into the Paris 2024 Summer Games with a more relaxed feeling from their pre-Olympic camp in Miramas.
The New Zealander also believes the current team has better prospects at the forthcoming Games as they are something akin to the side he handled alongside Coach Mike Friday in 2012.
The glorious outfit of 2012 comprised of some of Kenya’s most celebrated players among them siblings Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera, Andrew Amonde, who is now the strength and conditioning coach as well as indefatigable Willy Ambaka.
Brown is not strange to Kenya as he previously worked with Shujaa under the rein of coach Friday between 2012 and 2013 when the team recorded a marked improvement.
Brown was seconded to Kenya’s Shujaa outfit by the World Rugby earlier in year to ensure that Kenya 7s’ level of fitness and mental toughness flies high before paris.
Speaking to Capital Sport during Shujaa’s second training session in Miramas, Brown observed: “So far so good, I know it takes a couple of days to acclimatize. I think it’s nice for us being here, at least we can get away from distractions in Nairobi, I mean, it’s a blessing to be here, and it’s a nice quiet environment and the facilities are lovely. I think its perfect for us in the next 10 days before we head to the village; and see what the Olympics brings for us.”
The Kenya sevens team has an average age of 24 with Nygel Amaitsa being the youngest at 21 with Herman Humwa and Vincent Onyala are being the only Olympians in the squad.
Kenya has yet to progress past the group stages in the Olympics having finished 11th at the 2016 Rio Olympics and ninth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Asked what the presence of two Olympians mean to the rest of the players, Brown continued: “The experience of Onyala and Humwa is key because we are extremely young and inexperienced squad, and their presence brings alot of comfort and insight for the new generation.”
Comparing Friday’s squad and the current crop of players, Brown went on to explain: “It’s a completely new team. There are similar characteristics to the team that had the likes of Collins Injera, Humphrey Kayange and Willy Ambaka, however, we do not have the overall size currently we had back then, but the ability to move the ball around the park is much greater which leads to a different style of play.”
Commenting on Kenya’s pool, Brown singled out Argentina as Shujaa’s sturdiest adversaries.
“Argentina is the most consistent team in the whole series, they are physical, they are clinical in their attack frameworks, they are a very good team with world class players.”
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Miramas, France-
