Kenya Rugby Sevens coach Benjamin Ayimba has admitted that a serious and tough task lies ahead of him in terms of choosing the best team ahead of the World Rugby Series in Wellington this weekend and Olympic games in Rio.
Shujaa are in Group D with Australia, Portugal and Canada for the series and come off a dismal performance in the Dubai Series, the first leg of the 2015/16 Sevens World Series before the Cape Town circuit that saw them finish fourth.
Since November, Ayimba may have to consider painkillers because according to him, the job is getting more and more complicated as players continue to put in much desired shifts.
“The World Series is going to be used to gauge the players’ preparation. But again, it gives me a headache on who to go with as the players are inspired to deliver the results,” he told coastweeek.
“We started off very well with the Olympics qualifiers in South Africa, then got reality check in Dubai but responded swiftly in Cape Town. In all those competitions we have used different players and all of them have proved their worthiness.
“The Series is part of our preparations for the Olympics and that’s why we are giving everybody a chance to prove himself. But from the performance in the first two legs, it is not going to be easy to select the Rio squad,” he added.
Ayimba has already made some crucial calls, bringing on captain Andrew Amonde and his predecessor Humphrey Khayange as well as debutant Donald Aluoch. Frank Wanyama, Jeffery Oluoch and Robert Aringo have been left out.
