Kenya’s sevens stars showing the way for rugby at home

When the Rugby World Cup kicks off in Japan in September there will be at least one viewer kicking his heels on the sidelines.

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For Davis Chenge, the captain of Kenya’s national team, the failure to qualify for Japan 2019 still rankles.

While Kenya’s men’s sevens team has enjoyed huge success and brought the sport to a whole new audience throughout the country, those playing the more traditional format have struggled to make the same impact.

And though the sport is gaining in popularity with participation increasing, Chenge believes that has more to do with the shorter format of the game rather than his team’s efforts.

“I would credit the sevens team for that because they’ve had to come a long way and lately they’ve been performing really well,” Chenge told CNN.

“That’s because of their continued hard work and investment into the game. And now, the 15s team are working really hard to ensure we get to the level that sevens are at. That has made people really develop interest in rugby.

“Also corporates are getting interested and are investing more in the game and that’s helping it grow. Another thing also is the values that the rugby game instils in individuals, in the players. It’s encouraging a lot of youth to join and really helping their lives.”READ MORE

Source:https://edition.cnn.com/