- Head coach Kevin Wambua has handed debuts to 8 new players.
- The Dubai 7s will take place from 30 November to 1 December.
- George Ooro and Samuel Asati will be the new co-captains with Vincent Onyala and Tony Omondi missing.
Kenya 7s head coach Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua has named the 13-man squad that will represent the country in the opening two legs of the 2024/25 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series (now known as HSBC SVNS) that will take place in Dubai and Cape Town.
Highly rated Patrick Odongo (Daystar Falcons) headlines the squad and is one of eight players who will be making their first appearance in the Series.
The other players who will be making their debuts include Samuel Asati (KCB), Chrisant Ojwang (Nakuru), Festus Shiasi (KCB), Brian Mutua (Kabras Sugar), William Mwanji (Kabras Sugar), Nygel Amaitsa (Strathmore Leos) and Brian Ondego (Zetech Oaks).
Kabras Sugar powerhouse Kevin Wekesa (Kabras Sugar) will provide much needed experience in the team alongside George Ooro (Strathmore Leos), Benson Salem (Nondies), Floyd Wabwire (KCB) and Dennis Abukuse (Menengai Oilers) as the only players who have featured in the Series before.
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The team will miss the services of former captains Vincent Onyala and Tony Omondi who have not yet signed new contracts with the team for the 24/25 campaign.
“The two players will miss the first two outings due to contractual issues that have not yet been solved and we are still working on that,” Wambua said.
Shujaa will be making their return to the Series after missing last season, having reclaimed their core spot during the 2024 Challenger Series final in Madrid where they defeated Germany 33-15.
In the Dubai 7s tournament taking place from 30 November to 1 December, Shujaa has been placed in a tough pool alongside Olympic champions France, defending champions South Africa and 2021 finalists Australia.
In Pool A, Argentina, the 2024 World Series League overall champions, will face Ireland, Great Britain, and Uruguay who also joined Kenya in the promotion to the Series this season.
In Pool C, two-time Dubai 7s champions Fiji will face strong opponents in New Zealand along with Spain and the USA.
After the Dubai leg, the 12-team tournament will move to Cape Town for the second round taking place at the DHL Stadium from 7-8 December.
Following a successful debut as hosts in 2024, the festival atmosphere will return to Australia’s west coast for the third round at HBF Park in Perth from January 24-26, 2025.
Vancouver will then host the fourth round from February 21-23 before the HSBC Hong Kong Sevens hosts the fifth outing from 28-30 March at the new Kai Tak stadium.
The National Stadium in Singapore will host the sixth round on 5-6 April. The SVNS League Winners – the team with the most cumulative points from the first six rounds – will be decided here.
The top eight men’s and women’s teams at the end of the Singapore event will head into the winner-takes-all World Championship, taking place for the first time in Los Angeles on 3-4 May at Dignity Health Sports Park, the LA 2028 Olympics venue.
LA will also play host to the high-stakes promotion and relegation play-off competition that sees the top four men’s and women’s teams from the HSBC Sevens Challenger join the bottom-four ranked teams in the SVNS standings at the end of the sixth round in Singapore to fight for the highly coveted places in future SVNS.
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2024 DUBAI 7S POOLS
MEN POOLS
Pool A
France, South Africa, Australia, Kenya
Pool B
Argentina, Ireland, Great Britain, Uruguay
Pool C
Fiji, New Zealand, USA, Spain
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