MIRAMAS, France, Jul 11 – After having a taste of Olympics in Tokyo 2020, Kenya Sevens powerful player Herman Humwa is eager to enjoy the games, this time post-covid 19.
Following Thursday’s session, Humwa sounded febrile of the weather conditions in Miramas, France where the team is acclimatizing well in time for the fabled Games slated to officially start on Friday July 26 through to Sunday August 11, although rugby 7s will kick-off early on July 24.
Asked about his expectations in Paris, Humwa, who alongside co-captain Vincent Onyala are the only Olympians in the team, believes that their experience will come in handy as Kenya chases the elusive rugby medal at the Olympics.
“The young lads are up to the task and really cooperating in training, being here in Miramas is giving us confidence. As Olympians, we are encouraging the debutants to take the Games like any other and have a mindset of a champion, and I am sure they’re truly psyched up for this Olympics,” Humwa, the Kenya Harlequins forward told Capital Sport after the morning training in Miramas.
–Attention To Detail—
Reflecting on the Paris countdown, Humwa expressed that he can’t wait to get into the village and witness the lifetime experience, this time with no restrictions since Tokyo 2020 was held under the COVID-19 constraints.
“It’s always a dream come true playing in the Olympics and especially for this edition being my second, I’m overly excited. In Tokyo, I didn’t get to explore my first Olympics experience since it was held under COVID-19 restrictions. But now being here representing my team Shujaa for a second successive edition is a good feeling and I’m honored to be here,” Humwa expounded.
“This is our second training session in Miramas and we’ve hit the ground running and feel good about it. As a team, mostly, we are focusing on our defense, technical aspects in kick-off and set pieces, and just to make sure our nitty gritties are good.”
–Priceless Fan Input—
Humwa, the Moi University alumni believes that the crowd-puller that Shujaa is will come in handy as a sign of motivation to propel the team to greater heights.
“The fans usually play a major role in ensuring that the mood and psyche in the team is up. If you notice, Kenya is usually the number one team in the support base, so the fans usually play a big role in Paris and we urge them to come and cheer the boys,” Humwa disclosed.
The Shujaa outfit has been together in residential camp at Kasarani for a lengthy period courtesy of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) before heading to Miramas and Humwa is excited that team cohesion and expectations are at a different level.
“NOC-K has done a lot in terms of facilitating us with a high-performance atmosphere unlike when we were training at KRU and had to commute on a daily basis. Concentration levels have now improved since the team went into residential training and I think that is a positive step, by and large.”
Shujaa will commence its campaign against a strong Argentina side on July 24 before facing Samoa and wrap their Pool B match against Australia.
“The essence for now is studying the opposition well especially Australia and Argentina since we have not played them this season.”
Recently-qualified South Africa will go up against Tokyo 2020 silver medalists New Zealand, who will be looking to go one step further in the French capital whilst Uruguay and Samoa will make their Olympic debuts in Paris.
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Miramas, France-
