 It is the touch line here on Y25. I hope you enjoy the show. You just go to social media. It's at Mirumbi Osoro hashtag touch line and we are still enjoying ourselves. We are talking about all matters of sports. HSBC 7 is out and it was there for the Kenya rugby 7s and here to talk about that is none other than our rugby expert, the director of youth and innovations at the Kenya rugby union Kikechi Combo. Thank you for inviting me again. Let's talk about the postmortem of the two legs that we had in Canada, the Vancouver 7s and the Edmonton 7s where Kenya came second in the first leg and also third winning bronze in the second leg of the Edmonton 7s. Big wins for Kenya 7s. I think the boys played very, very well. It was exciting to watch the matches even late at night because it could keep us going and how they were playing and the integration of the new players and the experienced players. It worked out very well and that shows how the talent, how Kenyan is rich with the talents in terms of players' generation and the party of the players as they grow up and enter the national team. Covid-19 had really impacted us because we looked at our preparations for the Olympics where there were not many matches going on, mostly the Kenya Cup and everything, but this team looked that they were technically oiled to play together the way they played. One interesting thing with the Kenyan rugby is the mode of play, how they play and they play the same kind of rugby and this one goes through the same training. You find we have the same trainers and most of the coaches are local coaches and whenever you watch the local circuit, 7s, you'll be able to see these teams, they play the same kind of rugby. So it's very easy for a coach to identify a player or the selectors to identify a player and send that player to the national team and you find that that player will be able to fit in the team and play. The way you were saying, so also Covid-19 had really affected the game, but it was happy, it was good to see that the game was back and the player played up to the end and we had the final case he'd be playing and get the scabras in Nandi Bears. I think that was good and also it was now to bring back the players into shape and even those players, when they were called upon now to represent the team, even those ones who were not able to play at the Olympics, you find that they played so well, likes of Amunga, Demoy, you saw how they played with Maishi and Vati, they played so well because of the Kenya Cup coming in of that particular game and also playing up to the end as much as they were breaks but towards the end you find that they was called that consistent over the Kenya Cup matches up to the end. And some of the players that came out from these two legs of the HSBC 7s in Canada was Jeff Oloch and Alvin Oteano being named also onto the dream team. Talk about Alvin Oteano first, his rise onto the rugby 7s team. Yeah, I think now Alvin Oteano is now at his peak in terms of playing and he's been with the national team. We remember he was not used much 2015-2016 and even when the Kenya team won the Singapore 7s in Singapore, beating Fiji with a very huge margin, he was part of the team and so that consistent now he's at his peak now and he's playing so well and even himself he's also enjoying the game and even the commentators see how they are commentating and he's mastered his way of playing the position he's playing and also in the training and having gained that particular experience in playing the 7s circuit so he's enjoying himself in terms of playing for the national team. And also Jeff Oloch is also another fantastic player who is also on the side. Yeah, and that's why now you see even the teams they really fear Kenyans when it comes to the breakdown because these are people who are hearing those breakdowns and they are very aggressive when it comes to the breakdowns and in 2016 when Fiji were complaining when they made the final they said we are going to lose that much in the breakdowns because Kenyans are very aggressive and they are very strong in the breakdowns turn over and securing the balls and it's working out that cohesion of Jeff and Alvin having played together for long we find that they have geled up so well and they are playing so well for the national team so it's good to see that every circuit Kenyans participating in were part of the dream team we have Kenyans players there. At the moment when you look at the HSBC series our biggest obstacle at the moment for me I can authoritatively say it has to be South Africa, it has to be the spring books how can we beat this team because if we beat that team we will be winning all these 7s circuit so I think you are in it out these are African players and when you look at the statistics it doesn't mean that Kenya has not won against South Africa we have won even kept on itself and when you look at the way I have seen the consistent of all the coaches who have come in coaching the national team I have seen that whenever Kenya plays South Africa the margin is too small because Kenyans are mastering and they are closing the gap against the spring books but still the spring books have a very good development program that's the 7s academy and you can be able to see the players who have come from the 7s academy like Robert and Angelo Davis and they are very aggressive and they are playing very nice rugby and that kind of a mode of play they change their play at a very high speed so even the teams now if the teams are not good in defense so that's where they are beating and whenever they discover their weakness even if you make your defense that strong they start to grab and rush and get the ball and score so that's where the coaches probably have looked and having lost twice to South Africa the one in the finals and the other one at the 7s so that's a challenge but it's a lot of time and Kenyans will close the ranks with the South Africa and when we look at the two legs now as we wait for the other one to come in what was our biggest lesson from those two legs? well, the biggest lesson was we need more integration of the young players coming in the national team and we saw the captain now having called it off we went up a number of experienced players and young players are coming in so it's now time for us now to eat the small pocket the new players, the young talent is coming in to step up and find that they are now ready to fit in for the big shoes and fight for the national flag for the national team big one there for us at the Vancouver 7s where we came second and also the Edmonton 7s where we came with a bronze medal and then coming back here at home we are going to talk about also the Simpas they are preparing to go to South Africa on tour and they will be playing some of the best teams that are actually in South Africa when are they leaving for South Africa? well, we are here to give the exact date but the plans are there we saw the coach naming the 40 players who will be moving the camp to prepare for the test matches and these test matches are good you remember Kenya have been very close in qualifying for the World Cup but having lost to Zimbabwe last time when they had beaten Namibia and losing to Namibia and also losing the re-peachage but you see now they had made huge strides in terms of preparation for the World Cup remember the one for 2019 they went to re-peachage in France so that was a big step and so this time just now they have to bet on that and that's why now Kenya has taken a huge step in terms of preparing themselves and it comes to the qualifying matches now the pool games where they make an impact to be able to correct where they went wrong last time and make it instead of going through the re-peachage to make it straight to the re-peachage directly yeah, you know now the losers will go for like last time when they lost Namibia and then we went for re-peachage we played against the Canada and Romania and when they travel to South Africa they will be going against the established teams like Namibia Zimbabwe and also Brazil but also an all set side that will be coming an all star team that will be selected they have to play against the Zimbabwe but there are also some also new debutants who are called onto the team we have got Beto Lanami of Stratumorliu and Jojo Molo of Muamba also being integrated onto the team what do you make of the two young players coming onto the Zimbabwe it's a big assignment for them and new experience also for them and I know having played in Kenya Cup and participated with the same players who are in the national team they need now to it's a big colour for them they need to step up and fight for the position and make it for the final selection and also probably fight for make it to qualifying matches so it depends on how they be able to step up but it's good can be able to see other players also coming in and fighting for the position with the senior players and playing against those experienced players well a big chance for the Zimbabwe to make us proud as they are also scheduled to go to South Africa to play in those matches there and the competition is likely to start on November 6th to the 14th of November so we'll be waiting for the exact date when the teams will be travelling to South Africa to play in the Kari Cup and the Zimbabwe wish them good luck but we've got to talk about also some news that came out international in South Africa finally managing to win the rugby championship test against the all blacks big match it was it's a big match for SA and being a world champion there was too much pressure on the spring books and they hate now also to prove that actually they are the top the number one nation in the world to fight until the end you see how it was it was going either side but actually they were the lucky the last man standing and they got the penalty but I saw the coach now having realized that when they were training towards halftime they had to make the changes, the front three Bronin, Malcolm X and Kitzov and the coach now they came in and you find that they got a penalty and it reduced the margin 10 to 20 now 11, 20, 14 14, 20 I think that was a good step and now when they came in I think the second half was for the spring books and they really played well and managed to win that one against the all blacks it's a very tricky side but also having new players also coming in and also testing how it was a big one for them I can understand how these test matches are structured because before the test match between South Africa and the all blacks I think now has gone up to 100 test matches between the two sides we also had the British Lions also come to South Africa for another test match against the spring books and then you look at the rugby championship some of the teams that are there spring books you look at the all blacks the wallabies of Australia also how is it structured that one that's a tournament for the southern hemisphere the rugby championship it's a tournament for the southern hemisphere that's for New Zealand all blacks Australia, Pumas of Argentina and spring books they normally have that particular tournament but this one is the British Lions normally have a tour after every four years so this time now in South Africa then they will make another tour to Australia then after four years again they will make it to all blacks then back to South Africa that's the traditional tour for the British Lions so that one is for years so they will come back again to South Africa after 12 years that's why it's a big deal when they come back to South Africa but it's been very difficult for them to win with the all blacks but the last one when they won for the first time it was a big thing international media was taking much about that particular game but also now it was big time for them having come to South Africa it's a tour for the spring books and the world champion so it was quite a number of players who are playing for the England national team who are playing for the British Lions so they are going to meet the books who defeated them the world cup finals in 2019 but the other one the Arabic championship the Pumas have been unlucky they have selected we have been boys for that particular tournament but it's good for the Argentinian rugby because having played also players have been getting experience and that's why we see the barbarians who have been called up because of that particular experience of playing in the world cup playing with the championship cup and having grown the Argentinian also have been able to grow and we expect them also to do well even the 7th team for the Argentinian is doing so well we saw how they played at the Olympics big one there for as a South Africa one against New Zealand in that rugby test much championship with a very late penalty 21-29 let's come back home a lot of changes that are coming up before the new season kicks in and Impala Sarasens actually managed to name Oscar Osir as their new coach now replacing Mitch Ochola what do you make of Oscar? Oscar is a he's a good player he's played for the national team and he's also an Impala player he has an experience and that's what he takes to taking Impala to the next step Mitch has also been a good coach and now he's a part of the NS team and also been Mitch has also been and a coach for Nakuro so I feel that's a good thing also and I know he'll be able to he's capable of carrying on the assignment with Impala Sarasens to contest for the upcoming Kenya Cup for the next season well big one therefore Impala Sarasens the last time we won the Kenya Cup was back in 2009 but now they'll be playing alongside Pull A side KCB Menengai Harley Quinn, Mwamba and homeboys and the first fixture will be the Ngongro Dabi against Kenya Harley Quinn and that one will be coming away I think up to late November we will have tentative fixtures that we have so far we wish also Oscar Osir good luck in that new assignment some of the other changes that are coming on to the Kenya Cup well I think now teams are preparing and they are doing what they are transferring on his own now so teams are doing the transfer registering their players so we expect when they close over the registration now we will be able to know how things will be lining up for the coming season but we hope to have a very very competitive season Kabras was unlucky to Kenya Cup again but I know they will be coming up strongly so KCB with their coach who is also the under 20 coach Katis very tactical coach so how we change the game and KCB were able to win that particular match actually it was one of my how can I say it one of the toughest things you can also watch in the world of sport because I think the other time Kabras was leading by 20 points and KCB had no point at all then at the end of the coming on to the 60th minute they were tied at 25 then also we were talking about it I think in studio the last time we were talking about kicking and penalties and it's what won that game they got the penalty and they sealed over that particular game but Katis being a very tactical coach having won the Kenya Cup he knew what to do towards the second half and actually KCB stood up and they were able to challenge the very strong side towards the last minute the last quote of the game that's where everything changed so it's about the endurance and when it comes to 15th games about also the endurance and how to manage the game and that's where KCB were able to win the game I also mind control coming on to the game because when you are leading 20 points you've got to be exact you're going to win this one but also that time frame for you to think that you have won the game and as it happened also in the championship final between South Africa and New Zealand last minutes of the game it's true it's about the mental strength of how you'll be able to hold on with the game it's key once you be able to control the breakdowns you control the set pieces it was key and that's where when we saw the spring box we were able to on the breakdowns and set pieces fast in exchange of the game that's where they were able to get they were able to go on for the offside and they won a penalty and it sealed the game so it was applied the same you see Kabra's got a penalty and Dubena was unable to convert then KCB went on to get one and it was converted and it sealed the game one thing also for getting a penalty I understand that the USIU team is actually in Uganda playing in Makareira for the university sites and they are playing there what is our curriculum like for the university and some of the coming up matches that will be coming up next season that's a king's tournament it's for universities in Africa and Nani has a head and upper hand South African University normally head and upper hand but I know Kenyans will give them a run for that particular tournament USIU has done well but also have Black Blood it's a strong side Kenyan side we also have Min Machine and also we have Daista Nationwide team so Kenyans were represented in that particular match all of them actually there Kenyans once hosted so we expect the Kenyan side also to do well in that particular tournament but the winners now will be able to qualify for world invest championship in Russia that one should happen this year next year now so the tournament is happening this year that's in Uganda we are going for Kenya there as we are also preparing for our teams and last time when we were talking of the record and you talked about our players develop late when it comes to rugby that's why the likes of Collins in general still good to play rugby at the moment you doing that now we can get our players starting to learn the gamers early enough so that they can go ahead and deal with these young South Africans the way they are playing their rugby ok ok we look at our rugby normally players mature late when you come for your assessment and on your statistics but now we are working out Kenya rugby union with the structure with our development structure we are trying to bridge that particular gap because initially what our players have been setting they are getting very late mostly in high school and high school is only four years so we find but this particular player is learning the game at very late and you remember when Mike once was here he said he was an issue with the national team but now the Kenya rugby union has come up with a structure where we started the primary school then we also have good structures for the region the regional development of the radios so what they are doing they are also identifying the players early enough but they are identifying these particular players based on the age grade we have under 10, we have under 12 under 14, under 16, 18 under 20 so this particular elite players we now pull them together we bring them to the national they play together and when they play together this particular coach can be able to identify the right skills for these particular players early enough and that's why last month I had to launch under 20 girls because this is something that has never been there but for the first time now it has happened in Kenya because we are preparing ourselves we need to call, we are having olympic in 2024 we are also having World Cup in 2025 World Cup 2025 we will be having 16 teams Kenya must be at the World Cup 2025 the women team Olympics also have to make an impact in 2024 we saw how we played this year they played so well but now we need something and we need now to prepare early and these particular players now because we have realized that our players are maturing there but they still can be able to present the country and they are playing the country very well and I'm not saying that's a big issue when it comes to the players I saw Fiji in 19 that was 2009 they went on, they were saying the old team they cannot be able to win the World Cup and actually Fiji with the likes of Sereni they went and won the World Cup 7s the biggest in terms of our age, average so what we are doing now we are starting in the primary school then now these players can be able to learn the skills very early then now we can be able to identify these elite players and put them in those age categories and then as they move up so now we are preparing ourselves for 2023 we already have the team and that's why Polaroid has named the team for 2023 World Cup in Paris in France but now we want to look at 2037, 2031, 2034 and 2039 which players are going to play there we need to start early so that we have elites and accomplished players who will carry the national flag for the Republic of Kenya finally before I let you go malem we have got to talk about the Safari 7s I understand it's actually coming on to I think late October it will be coming out can you give us just a sneak peek on some of the teams that will be coming for the 7s I think what normal happens because we confirmed and the minister said go ahead to host the tournament so they send out the invites and now the teams are confirming but I think they will be able to now the union will be able to compile the list for those teams that are confirmed but for now we are waiting for the confirmation is not complete for those particular teams that will be playing at the Safari 7 but it's good because that's where Kenya has identified their players for the national team once the team those players who presented the team they went on to play so well at the circuit so it means a platform for us in terms of preparing for the 7s and then I remember because of COVID-19 and everything that came with COVID-19 we had only one competition and that was the Kenya Cup and it made us know to have a promotion and a relegation coming on to next season we are going to have Kenya Cup are other competitions also coming like the championship will they be coming back also we expect now to roll out all the leaks now and for the matches to and that's why you said you've seen the draft fixture coming out because it's for all the teams so we expect all the leaks to be back to play and we're happy to see that our rugby will be back in all stages because this is where now we have a platform for the party of the players some of them now playing for the national team championship and graduating to the national team and also for the under 20 team that's where also now once they are playing competitive rugby we can also be able now to get right players to represent our country Vancouver is over, Edmonton is over what is the next stop for Kenya 7s now in the rugby series HSBC? 1 more, that's in Dubai and late November and early December and Dubai will be hosting the 2 so we also expect to carry on and do well as we prepare for 2022 season San tesana malim, thank you for coming here on touchland to give us a sneak peak on what is happening in the world of rugby, director of youth and innovation at the Kenya rugby union KKC combo here with us today to give us everything a sneak peak of what happened in the world of rugby, let's take a short kumashu break there with the highlights of the semifinals of the UFN nations Lake Belgium, they are losing to France by 3 goals to 2 when we come back we will be having Erika Ganya and Taira Soiaki and we will be talking a lot in the funds on considering there is a new rich man in town