By Peter Ochieng

Kenya Rugby Sevens national team, popularly known as Shujaa, Head Coach Damian McGrath has named a 12-man-squad which will represent the County in the upcoming Sevens World Cup tournament in South Africa.

The Rugby bonanza will be held from September 9-12, 2022.

Veteran Collins Injera makes up the squad as he gears up for his fourth World Cup appearance.

Willy Ambaka and Billy Odhiambo are in line to making their third appearance, while Nelson Oyoo, Samuel Oliech, Jeff Oluoch and Herman Humwa made the final cut to South Africa for their second consecutive World Cup appearance.

The list is completed by Johnstone Olindi, Vincent Onyala, Kevin Wekesa, Tony Omondi and Edmund Anya. The five are up for their first-ever World Cup.

Coach McGrath says Injera’s addition is a plus because of his experience.

“Collins brings a raft of experience. He’s lived it and done it, there’s not many players on the sevens circuit who’ve done and achieved what Collins has, his influence in training is very good. He’s very good with the younger guys and understands how sevens should be played. With the withdrawals that we’ve had, we felt it was good to bring someone like Collins in to bring that experience to the team,” he said as quoted by the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) website.

Alvin Otieno left the team to pursue personal interests, while Daniel Taabu and Bush Mwale were left out for internal disciplinary matters.

Shujaa is appearing at their sixth consecutive RWC 7s since debuting in 2001.