 Welcome back to the touchline on Y25 for my name is Max Holwaseek, I'm still with Ken Andrew Malimcombo, chair and founder of Comra's rugby football club and also Kenya Rugby Union director is joining us this particular afternoon. Good to see you Malimma, how have you been? No, I'm okay. You're alright. Santesana kumikaribisha. Santesana pukujapia. So Vancouver 7s is happening tonight. Before that someone just amazed me asking Malimma about his opinion with regard to an announcement from Confederation of African Football regarding more international events. It is not suitable to host FIFA accredited matches. What's your opinion as a veteran sportsman? I think that's a huge disappointment especially at this time when we've been in this competition for many years, over 50 years of competition. We don't have an accredited stadium that can be able to host matches and meet the international standard. I think these are wake up call and the stakeholders of the game, they need to go down and be able to look at that and sort that one for all. I remember during the last campaign when the NAG government and the Yubri government were campaigning and saying that they were going to introduce every count should have an international meet standard stadium. So when we are now looking at these two stadiums, the big stadium, Kasalani, that we have in the country and one of the biggest stadiums in East Africa, they are saying it cannot be able to meet the standards. It's a big disappointment for the country and bad news for us. Now what does that necessarily mean for World Cup qualifier between Kenya and Mali? Considering what's said to play in the next few months and if Kasalani is not in a standardised situation to host FIFA accredited matches, is there any other apart from... I don't think there is any other because Nyayo again, I think it will be the same spot as Kasalani. But as he said, it's been way too long for Kenya to lack an international, a stadium with international standards, it's been way too long. And it's not even the first time, Kaaf I think was supposed to host chan for them and we couldn't host chan and it's a tournament for local African base players. We couldn't host that and now FIFA has said and Kaaf has said we can't host FIFA quality matches. It is just so sad for the match, it's just in Limbo, we just have to wait and see what happens with it. Ya, of course, just a sneak preview of the aggressive a little bit to football but we sticking to Matas Raghbivan, Kufa 7s happening tonight. Kenya looking forward to put their predicaments behind following what happened, sort of a horrible show during Tokyo Olympics. Though they managed a ninth place finish and looking forward to ensure that all goes well ahead of Kufa 7s tonight. It's the first leg of HSBC World 7 series, right? And we playing teams like Mexico-Spain and the last game of the group South Africa, tomorrow morning. First of all, Nelson Noyo, now getting the handbant for overall captainship. Does he have what it takes to replace Andrew Armonde who said that he has played sufficiently for Kenya and now it's high time to hang the boots? Ya, well, depends on when you see how Nelson Ayo has been decorating the team. He came in from the edge grid, Raghbivan, Nakuru. Nakuru is one of the clubs that have a very nice edge grid program. Having come from that edge grid program and then journeying well and making it to the national team, I think he meets the criteria of being a national team. You remember also when Kenya won in 2016 in Singapore, I think he was also on the score sheet scoring. So he has been the team and he understands he is mature enough to take over and bleed the boys in Kufa 7 and the upcoming series. So the man was risen through the ranks and I know when you speaking like that, you speaking from that aspect of yourself who has been passionate about youth development and ensuring that growth of young people is ensured locally. Ya, ya, ya, it's true. I've been, the way of saying I've been that particular program for development and being also the director of development. It's good to see that the path of the players is being wanted and they go up to the national team. And I think that's the way how the game is supposed to be managed. Where the players come from, the edge groups and they go up to the national team, through the clubs that nationwide go on to the Kenyakap teams and playing for the national team. I think that's a big achievement for the coaches who are doing that great job of enabling these players to meet all the path where until they play for the national team. When you look at the Kufa 7, where you saying we did play well at Olympics, we played just a few errors and I think it costed Kenya, but when you look at the way they played and how they lost the matches, I think it was a team that had a very small margin in all the matches at the Olympics and also having lost to Ireland and winning against Ireland again in Japan. I think that was a good plus. That tells us if you could have had more games, I think the boys had found the rhythm and they could have won more matches. But Olympics have few teams, that's only 12 teams. So if you lose one match, probably you are in a very difficult position to make it to the next level. But when you look at Vanguva the way it is and the core teams being USA, Canada, South Africa, Kenya and England, Ireland, you find that Kenya stands a big chance of making it to the main cup and probably also lifting the Vanguva. Depends on how they will be able to execute their game plan. So our first match this particular evening is again in Spain at 8.30 pm then let run a few hours later at 11.42 pm we play against Mexico which is an invitational site. Then on Sunday morning at 3.35 am for those people who are nocturnal we can catch that particular action against South Africa the heavyweights 3.35 am and that game coming in the wake of South Africa having lost against Australia. The spring box, I think it's a big disappointment for the world champion to lose the match today and probably the coach Jack Snapper might be struggling after Erasmus having left the national team and became the director of rugby of South Africa. But sometimes it's also good to lose so that now you go and look where you've gone wrong and prepare and I remember South Africa from the time they won the World Cup in 2007 they struggled until 2019 and they came and found the reading month when they said now 18 months preparation for the World Cup so they brought in a lot of players and integration and they are able now to execute and win the game. But when I watch the game today South Africa is also trying to kind of change their mode of play and that's where it probably is affecting him because now passing off the ball it has not been part of South Africa when you look at how they won the World Cup but this time round you find that they are kind of playing the Australian mode of the game passing the ball instead of kicking and setting the set pieces I think that's where South Africa has been affected much but all in all I know they'll come back we still have one more weekend they're playing again in New Zealand in the two weekends consecutive weekends probably they'll come back despite what I've seen in New Zealand it's a very strong team they have made changes today and they are winning again in Argentina again today and Ken of course ahead of Mexico the captain Nelson Oyo has released some statements saying that the team is generally in good mood and are ready to tackle a pool which is to us we have a feeling that it's very open for us to reach the knockout stage and contending for the cup I think that is a statement coming from someone who looks like a leader right? Yeah and he has to take up the mantle now lead the national team the others who have left it's now up to Oyo to lead this this new crop of players because I've seen their debutants in this side I think five going into the Vancouver series right now and also this Vancouver series and anything they play right now I think they lead up to the World Cup and Commonwealth Games so they'll be key in preparation for those tournaments and it's also good to observe that for a player like Nelson Oyo he will be in charge of heavyweight players Colin Sinjera Willie Ambaka now leading the troops to another level just like for your team in Europe and United having Harim Aguaya to be captain someone like Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi at PSG is not the one of the umband someone is in charge so I think you have to up your game to ensure that you lead your troops well isn't it Mali? Yeah okay but now it depends on the team play and how you know at times also the players also involved in terms of choosing the captain and the captain is actually the big role model because now he's the link man and this controls the game in the pitch but when you look at the way the team is these are also players who've played together for long even the debutants also have been there Makwe Moe has been in and out Maesi Nekayonga these are also players who've played well for their clubs and also the 7s and 15s and they have come from a very competitive league that we've resumed after a long time so I do feel that they are ready and they will take on also remember that we also have players who've just come from olympics and a big chunk of them have Jeff O'Lorge, Alvin Otieno we have Umwa and also we have Ambaka who is also doing well professional player now in Russia so these are the players who have been together they are training you know the coach has executed he has a game plan for how they are going to play against all the teams debutants are always sometimes the co-surprises in Spain sometimes they have won they have also Spain has sometimes won against Kenya in the circuit even though they have been on the evitational side and Mexico it's okay I saw them play there is a tournament that was held in South America and they also played well it's a coming team in Germany also it's an upcoming team Hong Kong has been regular and been hosting and you've seen how they play so when you look at the core teams at Canada, USA and Ireland and England so Kenya stands a chance and South Africa is a threat also and you see how South Africa normally plays the rugby they are fast in terms of the set pieces and they change their game at the high pace so it starts upon now the defence on how to work on it and stop the such a teams we were very aggressive in the attack after Tokyo Olympics there was a comment that came from Namco Sinosensmi, the man in charge of the National Sevens team Shujia that there should be a national dialogue on Kenya's playing style because since 2016 we've had like four coaches and each one of them comes with their different style of play and to some extent now players get into confusion on how to play because there is no uniformal style of play for Kenya Sevens I think having a style of play contributes more to the team having an identity and even the young players who are looking to break into the national setup will understand what they need to learn before they step into the national setup so I think the union should actually come up with a style and ask the coaches they hire to try and replicate it and also ask the local coaches of the local clubs to try and incorporate this style into the other levels of rugby in Kenya so that when someone gets selected to go and play for the national team even though they might be debutants they already know what is expected of them so it is easier for them to gel and have an identity and understand each other and it is glad that you've mentioned about the union and we have the union representative in Malim himself Are you also looking for doing the same and ensuring that you actualize that policy Okay, when you look at our Kenyan rugby we have the same trainers and most of the clubs they are held by the local coaches and these coaches they go under training of the same same trainers so finding a different rhythm it's not that big the only time I saw probably when Mike Friday came in but all the local coaches we've seen the later Imba we have seen Naucheng we have seen Pa'u and Namkos you find that they the coach of Mamba now you see when you look at how they play their mode of play is not that different there is a very small margin and that's why you see every player who comes in from a local circuit it gels on well with the national team and they play so even when you look at country like New Zealand I remember when they were playing Super Rugby and Super Rugby was was also the same time they were also playing the championship and find that the national the coaches say now they allow the players to go and play for the Super Rugby because the national coaches the teams wanted back their players but now they say now these players they are going to play under the same mode over the game so allow them to go back so the teams to play for the Super Rugby because they wanted to win and they found out also about the issue of the sponsorship attached to those particular teams but they were to put under the same condition as the national team so it is practical and it's doable when it comes to the coach so long as the coach request about request the teams the coaches of the local teams these players should be under this particular condition it happens because these are in the same condition then the same environment they have gone through the same training so I don't see if it's a big deal and Kenya Rugby has been on the forefront in terms of training the coaches and like now when we have a good program for training of these particular coaches at least for them to have a level 2 for those ones who are working with the late teams and even the small teams so we are building our capacity and that one will be able to probably in the next one year we will see a very big margin in officiating and coaching and considering those are words coming from a coach it makes sense it means it's so appropriate and relevant that it's high time that it gets into actualization sooner than later oh yeah yeah it's happening already but now I think what the coach was saying we should try to instill that in our local game because it happens in our local game today we will get a player from Oilers the national team and that player will be able to jail very fast because the mode of training for this particular coach is the same because Kenya Rugby Union has brought a program for the training of these coaches and they are training them under the same kind of execution of the game of the coaching program wow and of course Ken looking forward to see how that happens it will be a good thing for Rugby in Kenya and considering Kenya is a heavyweight in african content alongside of course South Africa not only in Africa but even overseas when Kenya is playing but are we looking forward playing against Mike Friday I have seen USA he is also at the Vancouver Sevens yeah it depends on the results and pairing going forward after the first pool matches and I am sure because one of the core teams when you look at those teams Kenya is one of the big teams there South Africa, USA and England so probably they will be able to meet in the next phase of the game someone was asking me should we regret at some point having parted ways with Mike Friday and leaving him to go coach USA I was unable to respond to such question because I had to contemplate deeply before responding which I did not if you are the one Malimu how will you have responded that losing Mike Friday was a huge blow setback to Kenya and Rugby ok we will look at it not really because Mike Friday left and the local coaches picked up and the local coaches even did much better if Mike Friday was here and he was not able to win one of even of the circuit the late Benjamin Aiba one in Singapore when Namco came in and went to Vancouver Sevens finals and also in Hong Kong Sevens Finals so the local coaches find they have done well even better than the foreign coaches and by the end of Namco we surpassed 100 point mark that had never been witnessed before under any other coach under coach, yeah but also remember the number of legs also increased from 6 to 6 to 10 but the local coaches are doing well and that's the way because they also understand the players they are with the players the same environment and also conditions of these players they really understand them and it's easy for them to work with the players anyone who comes in Kenya gets the results they require results in the national circuit Kenya question for the director it's just a word question and it's best of what I said earlier the Commonwealth and World Cup are coming up and obviously before the Olympics they had not played as much as they would have liked but right now after the Olympics they did what they did in the Olympics right now they will have a few tournaments leading up to the Commonwealth and the World Cup and how do you think they will perform there and what are we to expect as fans of rugby Ok, I think now things are working out well I remember now last season we didn't play a lot of rugby but now we played Kenya Cup just come to an end and KCB won 2 weeks ago new fixtures are coming up Safari 7s are also seen in the media it's coming and that's been a very good hunting ground for the coaches and also for the local teams in terms of preparation and when the teams play in those particular tournaments you find they really improve and this Wanguva next November 26th and the 3rd of December will also be having Dubai 7s then we resort to 2022 season which will be coming up in the year 2022 I think before that Kenya could have played a number of matches and the coach will have seen which is the best team now to take it to the Commonwealth and then later on in the year we will be having World Cup in South African continent Kenya has done well so well in a World Cup competition so we expect it now to carry it on the way they played in Russia and went to the semi-finals so we expect probably this time Kenya to go in the Finland and see the magic they did in Singapore and the cup will remain in the African continent and almost every team locally as far as several sporting disciplines are concerned football, rugby, basketball they are chasing for place in the global show pieces, World Cups and I know it will be prestigious for Shujia to make it to the World Cup isn't it? Ya Simba was Shujia Shujia will be at the World Cup Ya the 15s because now we played the first match we played against Senegal and also we played we have forgotten the other team Zambia and we lost to Senegal but we won against Zambia and now we are in pool games and the teams will be preparing well for that and Kenya you found it done well last time we went to the Reaper judge and the boys now have gone to the next level so this time around we will be able to execute and be able to qualify we have seen how the other countries have played they are yet to beware the Kenyan rugby is now today Zimbabwe which have been our rival competitor and also Namibia we will be also losing their first match so we expect Kenya to do well and the real time now is coming for them to qualify I hope this time around we will make it, we qualify direct of going for the Reaper judge like what we did last time and make it to France 2023 we already have the players for 2023 and like for 2027 where I am setting up now the program for the players we will play in 2027 and 2031 and you have seen how Kenya rugby has taken rugby to primary school went take rugby to primary school that tells us Kenya rugby is now preparing on the players who will be able to play in 2027 World Cup, in 2031 World Cup 2035 World Cup these are the players who brought through the age grade program and we have set all the programs last month we also launched under 20 this program that has not been there but we have launched a 20 program for the ladies so that we have the team that will play in the Olympics, in the coming Olympics of 2024 and World Cup 2025 remember the ladies team the number has been increased at 16 teams so whether you like it or not Kenya will be able to lioness will be at the Olympics or at the World Cup of 2025 and that's why we have the under 20 program and those under 16 program so we are doing a good job across the country the regional rugby development officers they are selecting the elite players on all the age grade so that we now put these elite players under program where we will be able to monitor their skills and development so by the time comes when Kenya now is ready to take on the rest of the world will be having skilled players and give the right results so proper preparations in advance before then if we have to make it and they have already started and when you look at these successful countries like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand they have a very vibrant program for the youth and every time we have seen under 20 qualifying for the World Rugby Junior Trophy one against Madagascar so that tells us that we already have setting up a team that will be able to play in 2027 World Cup because now these are the guys just like when you look at New Zealand, New Zealand like of Mackenzie like of Paranya see those are players who play at the World Cup the Junior World Cup and now they are representing the country because we have a very good youth structure program for the game so Ken finally as we come to the finishing line of this particular noble discussion Kenya, just like you know the captain should just say that they are looking forward getting to the knockout stage how strategic are they supposed to approach these games considering they are playing sort of minos during the first and second game before they take on heavyweight South Africa which means win the first two games in order to seal a quarter final battle how schematic and Namco's approach these games even though they are said to be minos we saw what happened to Man United and PS2 can't really call them minos but young boys but for Kenya to play the first two games they should win them to actually show that they are serious to then want to really go to the main cup final South Africa after facing Spain and Mexico I think the Mexico game is the one which many people fancy Kenya will actually go ahead and really win it the Spain one might be a little bit tricky but for the first two games I think Kenya, they don't need to be studied they just need to express themselves how they usually do we know they are good rugby side they can play really well they just have to live it out there and look forward to face South Africa who will be a tougher test than the two from coaching perspective do you think it's possible are you also reading from the same script with Nelson that we can get to that level of Vancouver 7s in a minute since we even gotten to the semifinal stages of just BCR 7 series when you look at those teams teams that have come from a very good competition in Kenya and South Africa or just come from the Olympics so they have a head start and when you look at the statistics also against Spain Kenya have an upper hand and also South Africa especially when we meet South Africa at the last matches we won against them in Cape Town at the home ground and the fans got disappointed so I know the coaches prepare the boys well and they will be able to take it on and their focus on doing well at the Vancouver before the crossover next week at the same tournament in Canada the new Kenya Kapa friend of mine was telling me that now it's an inclusive tournament which means all teams are said to participate is a fan of homeboys probably football club saying that now KCB has got a new you know strong opponent who can beat them in the finals of Kenya Cup not like a brass do you buy that joke okay when it comes to the game and sports depends on how you prepare yourself focus on winning and losing and if they have prepared well if they have prepared well I know they will bring up a very tough competition I remember the two teams KCB and Cabras they prepared well and we saw good rugby being played at the finals so if the team will be able to prepare well then you expect also to see good rugby towards the end of the next season that was a reckless performance comeback of comebacks because a team is winning 20 nil after him then you know your opponent decides to bounce back and beat you and thoroughly lift the title but you know that's the beauty of sports it's never done you might think you're leading you might think you're the better team but there's always a comeback somewhere for one team that they'll never forget about it and safari 7 is back also the way he's saying it's about how the team has been prepared the mental strength of the team and how they will hold on up to the last minute and remember South Africa how they are punishing people at the World Cup they had what we call the bomb squad the players who could come in second and destroy the other opponents so how the coach uses this tactics in the game and probably Nani also used the same very experienced coach also he just won with under 20 recently and also having retained the cup he's been at the finals and remember when we discussed here last time we said he's the master of the finals he can cause a surprise and indeed he did that safari 7 I think we are gearing up and Kenya has done well we expect them to do well again this time against the invitational teams and I know many people have been away people have not been watching rugby for long so it's a good opportunity for the game to be back on the home soil again and bring up the spirit of the game I know most people who have seen social media how people are exchanging and preparing for this particular big tournament coming up and this time around happening at Nyayo at Nyayo stadium away from traditional air refueling grounds Nyayo has been good and Laiones also the reputation match against Colombia I told that Nyayo even the Simbas also play their match the World Cup qualifying against Zimbabwe and Senegal so it's a good stadium and it's a good place to be and also for the health protocol for covid and all that it's a good place to play rugby Maliwe generally we are parting shots with regards to what is happening in international rugby locally I know we are doing our level best to ensure that we get to another level in terms of growth and development but your general thoughts in terms of rugby at this time of covid-19 pandemic where the situation might be a little bit tough but we keep going it's good to see that rugby is back and we were able to see Kenya Cup complete the season successful I think that's a good place and also the upcoming season the world goes well we have to have even the lower leagues playing the championship and the nationwide it's good the national security is disappointing not to see the giants of Kenya playing against the others that's Australia, New Zealand and Fiji not coming to Vanguva 7 and Edmont I think that's a huge disappointment I could have wished to see Kenya versus Argentina and the finals again what is this that you mutated to what are you participating in? I think the issue of the government and the covid protocols when the championship the championship cup was to be delayed they are meant to travel to South Africa one home and away New Zealand travelling to South Africa also needs a home and away Australia but because of that you find that now the government restriction now they decided the tournaments in one venue and that's why South Africa and Argentina need to travel to Australia so it's just the issue of the pandemic but hopefully things will be okay as we move on can you last question for the director last question is we've seen a calf talking about Kassarani not being able to have FIFA quality games there and rugby has held some of its tournaments at Kassarani and they seem to be in the same state for rugby how confident are you that coming rugby arenas and fields will be able to host international tournaments in the future? Okay, the way I've seen I think once you meet the requirements the what rugby requirements for hosting of the game which Kenya has expertise in that particular area well trained expertise in terms of organising of the tournaments once you meet the criteria and we've never had issues we've played with hosted parties recently World Cup coldfiring Kenya Hosted also Lioness also hosting Colombia here for the Reaper Charge so with rugby everything is okay and so long as we meet the requirement for the government in terms of this particular difficult time everything will be able to go on well once you give an opportunity I know Kenya is ready to host any tournament and if this particular in fact we host it at a very difficult time but now as things are easing up it is even easier for us to host the tournaments Thank you Mwanim for coming through It's a pleasure speaking to you and sharing your good insights on this particular show of course Mwanim Combo Director Kenya Rugby Union in charge of youth development he's been doing a lot of good work in terms of ensuring that we qualify for World Cup in the future remains optimistic that can happen considering what is being done right now in terms of talent search and developing the young players who are passionate about the sport and also it remains confident that at the Vancouver Sevens which is first leg of HSBC World Seven series Kenya has got what it takes to make it to the quarterfinal stage in their tricky but manageable pool of Mexico, Spain and South Africa we're looking forward to see how that pans out hopefully some of us will be awake tonight to watch that South African game that will be a mouthwatering time that everyone is looking forward to It's a big march and if we're able to wake up during the Olympics why not Celebrating about the gold for our Marathon as a elite and we managed to wake up during late at night so tonight it is not an exception of course it's been nice talking to you thank you for coming through Mwanim because we're still here until 3 o'clock don't go away stay tuned always a pleasure having you on board stay tuned