Alvin 'Buffa' Otieno and Brian Tanga have been recalled to the national sevens side Shujaa for the Hamilton and Sydney legs of the HSBC Sevens world series as head coach Darmian McGrath named a 13-man squad for the two legs.
‘Buffa’ had been excused from the side in the third and fourth legs of the World Series to complete his switch to Eastman Warriors Rugby Club in Canada.
At the same time Menengai Oilers centre John Okoth has been called up to the national side for the first time to replace the injured Vincent Onyala. Daystar Falcons' Floyd Wabwire was the other debutant named by coach McGrath who expressed his optimism of the duo fitting in well.
"In terms of John Okoth and Floyd, it’s very exciting for the future of Kenya Sevens. John Okoth is well known to Kenya rugby followers through his exploits with the Simbas (Kenya men’s national fifteens team). He is a big, powerful, skillful player who will offset the loss of Vincent Onyala to a great degree,” he explained. “Johnnie’s not quite sevens fit but we know that he can come and do a job in short bursts and we know as the season goes on he’s going to get better."
He continued, “For Floyd, this is a chance to give him a taste of senior rugby, he’s trained so well. He’s come from nowhere on the National Sevens Circuit…he wasn’t picked out by the selectors but he was someone who caught my eye and he deserves this opportunity as he’s shone very well in training. He is a long way from the finished article but I think he is going to be a fixture in the sevens group for a while to come.”
With off-field issues now seemingly over after the recent sponsorship, McGrath is pumped up going into the Hamilton leg, despite being in a tough group A together with Samoa, Fiji and France.
"Hamilton’s going to be tough. As always, when you don’t do well in the tournament before, the draw is very rarely kind to you. So it would, in Hamilton, we’ve got what’s been described as the group of death. We’ve got Samoa, Fiji and France who are three of the real big hitters, so it’s going to be a tough ask of us in the group. However, that being said, I’m sure none of the three teams will be looking forward to playing against us based on our improvements in Dubai and Cape Town despite all the off field issues, I’m positive about how we’re gonna go on this next trip.”
The team leaves for New Zealand on Friday 13 January at 11.55pm.
