NAIROBI, Kenya, January 21, 2026 – National men’s rugby 7s team co-captain George ‘Japolo’ Ooro has promised the perfect Valentine’s Day present for Kenyans who will attend the World Series Division 2 tournament in Nairobi on February 14-15.
Ooro says both the men and women’s team want to win the opening leg of second-tier competition to honour thousands of Kenyans who will pack Nyayo Stadium on the material day.
“That’s the goal for the Lionesses and the Shujaa team to carry the day. We will also bring our loved ones, our parents, our girlfriends, our wives…they’re coming to watch
us, and the end goal is to give them the good Valentines gift. You know it only
comes once, so we also have to give our best on the ground, and just make them happy and make the country happy,” the KCB Rugby player said.
The co-captain further said that a packed Nyayo Stadium will provide them with the extra push to put their opponents to the sword.
“Anytime we are low and we just hear the chants from the stands, it really motivates us a lot, and it really encourages us a lot to perform. There are 6,000 tickets that have already been sold so it shows how the fans really want to be here that day. So
let them all come, let them come cheer rugby, and we’ll also give them whatever they want to see on these grounds,” Ooro said.
Shujaa will be up for the fight against five other teams, including Uruguay, Germany, Belgium, Canada and the United States.
Ooro is, however, looking past the five opponents but to qualify for Division 1 of the prestigious competition.
“It’s very important to us, because at the end of the day we are only focusing to get back to Division 1. We were slightly shut down last time when we were in LA, and we didn’t hesitate, we knew we had to come back, train so hard, to get back to Division 1, and that’s the main goal,” the skipper said.
Coach Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua’s charges upped their preparations with a high performance training camp in South Africa for the past one week.
Reflecting on the camp, Ooro says they are in a much better position than when they departed the country.
“Our preparations are going well. We just came from South Africa yesterday night. We had a couple of games with the Blitz Box in South Africa, Western Province, and also Rhinos were there. We learnt a lot. We also had some time to build up on our culture and to set our goals,” Ooro said.
