Monday, 17 October 2005

Kenyan women's rugby takes root fast

Women's rugby is becoming a very popular sport in Kenya. The Kabeberi seven-a-side tournament, the second in the Kenya Rugby Football Union national sevens circuit is now synonymous with women's rugby.

For the past three years, this category, which was initially introduced as a sideshow for the men's game has been getting all the glory.

Mwangi Muthee, the Mwamba RFC chairman and a former Kenya prop has been emphatic about the development of the game. He has steadily watched an obsession turning into reality.

There was a time when he had to convert hockey players from one of the top women's teams Sliders into rugby players. But it was easy enough because all he had to do was to impart rugby's basics.

At the Nairobi Railway training ground, Mwangi Muthee with his lieutenant Joe had only one instruction for the players: "When you get the ball, run like burglary." Of course, the women burst out laughing at this stern-faced businessman and the golfer who lived for sport. They took the suggestion and ran for the try-line.

Initial shyness was soon eroded as the women started enjoying the game. They were thrown into the limelight during the annual Safari Sevens. This was an even bigger stage and obviously, they were nervous to start with.

Then the Ugandans who made great strides in the women's game arrived. They were more refined and more passionate unlike the Kenyans who still regarded fun as the most important part of their rugby.

The Kenyan girls have now determined to improve and copy the success of, if not overtake, the Ugandans who play under the banner of Thunderbirds.

Indeed, the Thunderbirds have rocked the Kenya rugby scene for the last two years and The Thunderbirds swept all before them in the Safari Sevens in 2004.

When a Kenya women's 15's side travelled to Uganda this year, rugby seemed to have taken root and the KRFU Board appointed a co-ordinator for women's rugby to narrow the widening gap between Uganda and Kenya.

At last weekend's Kabeberi Sevens Kenya fielded three women's teams to battle it out for the ultimate trophy. The message had been taken to Rwanda and Burundi. And Rwanda's Silverbacks made their maiden appearance in Nairobi.

The Silverbacks won their first trophy beating Nandi Flames in the Bowl final. Agnes Nkurikiyimfura who captained the Silverbacks was obviously very happy with the result. "This is a great boost for our rugby. We have something to show and maybe the government will now give us some support," she suggested.

Comment on this article

Leave your comments (Show/Hide Form)

Other Visitors Comments

There are no comments currently....

Last Updated ( Monday, 17 October 2005 )

< Prev

[ Back ]