- Onyala has not played for Shujaa since the Paris Olympics 2024.
- Shujaa are in a tough pool that has Fiji, Uruguay and New Zealand.
Former Kenya 7s captain Vincent Onyala will be preparing to play his first match in national team colours in over five months after being included in the travelling squad that will head to Australia for the Perth 7s taking place from 24-26 January 2025.
Onyala, who co-captained Kenya at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has not featured in the team since the prestigious event held in the French capital owing to contractual differences with the Kenya Rugby Union but returns in time for the third outing after sorting the saga.
Joining Onyala in the team will be Tony Omondi and Brian Tanga who will add some much needed experience to the young team.
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Omondi, who also had contractual differences with KRU, missed the Dubai 7s leg but featured in Cape Town after coming in as a late injury replacement for Chrisant Ojwang.
Tanga will also be in line for his first appearance in the 2025 season having missed the opening two legs.
Aside from the trio, George Ooro and Samuel Asati will continue as the co-captains in the squad.
Kevin Wekesa, Patrick Odongo, William Mwanji, Dennis Abukuse, Nygel Amaitsa, Festus Shiasi, Ben Salem and Floyd Wabwire complete the 13-man travelling squad.
Tough Pool
Shujaa will have to be at their best in order to shine in the upcoming event since they have been grouped in a tough pool that has Fiji, Uruguay and New Zealand.
Pool A has the Cape Town winners South Africa, Australia, the United States of America (USA) and heavyweights Argentina while Ireland, Great Britain, Spain and France will square it out in Pool B.
Shujaa fixtures and schedule
Friday 24 January
Shujaa are set to kick start their Perth HSBC SVNS campaign against New Zealand at 6:00 AM East African Time (EAT) on January 24 at the HBF Stadium.
The talented side will then lock horns with pre-match favorites Fiji from exactly 10:59 AM EAT.
The second day of the tournament will see Shujaa battle it out with Uruguay at 7:00 AM EAT.
The rest of the fixtures will be confirmed by the organizers based on how Shujaa will perform in their Pool matches.
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Standings
After two outings, the Kevin Wambua-coached side occupies ninth position in the standings with 11 points following a tenth-place finish in Dubai and seventh-place finish in Cape Town.
Fiji lead the way on 36 points followed by Spain and France who close the top three on 32 and 30 points respectively.
