Kenya 7s Head Coach, Innocent Simiyu has named his 12 man squad to the Paris & London legs the HSBC Sevens Series. Sammy Oliech & Derrick Mayar have received the nod to hop on the plane come Monday 8th May 2017. The team has been in residential training in Nanyuki and the players just broke camp to rest at their respective homes before convening for duty after 3 days.
Speaking on phone with the Impala Saracens Media Team, Derrick Mayar, who is now receiving his 2nd call to go on tour with the team exudes dozens of optimism.
‘I have not become a regular with the team yet. I have only scored one try in my sevens series career. French & UK soil provide another opportunity for me to cross over the chalk more than once. We got grossly disappointed in Singapore after bowing out of the quarter finals. The conditions were right for us to win, but we didn’t do the right thing when required to. The referee merely oversees proceedings. I have put the Singapore loss behind as I focus on nothing short of contributing to a Cup win in Paris & London’.
Sammy Oliech, who for ages tried to break into the squad, finally did and is now a regular with the side oozes tonnes of hope. He is leading the Kenya 7s conversions table this 2016/17 season with 27 to his name.
‘I am looking at bettering my performance from Singapore & Hong Kong. We wanted to win in Singapore, but I guess we just couldn’t. The mood in camp was very positive. Guys have been opening to learning new things, fixing what needs fixing and understanding how to approach matches that require more than basic technique’.
Sammy played in the Resolution Impala Saracens Gazelles team that went against BlakBlad and won 57-18 during the Kenya Cup preliminaries. His message of encouragement to the team when they play either Quins or Nakuru next weekend: ’The team has been playing well. The only issue the team needs to fix is not to ‘chase’ the game, but change approach to sealing matches as soon as possible. I know they are formidable enough to take out either team next weekend’. ‘I have seen a couple of impressive young players gunning to play at the 7s series level. My word of advice to them is to keep pushing and not let any deterrents put them down.’
Oliech & Mayar will fly the Kenyan flag together with team captain – Andrew Amonde, Frank Wanyama, Dennis Ombachi, Bush Mwale, Augustine Lugonzo, Eden Agero, Brian Tanga, Nelson Oyoo, Darwin Mukidza & Billy Odhiambo. We wish them the best of luck!
Kenya 7s is in Pool C alongside England, France & Spain
