Corporate cash kicks off talent wars on the local rugby scene

Collins Injera, the Kenya Sevens team star-player, is a wanted man. According to officials from his local club side Mwamba, several South African and French rugby clubs are after Injera’s signature.

If he opts to ply his trade elsewhere, he will be following in the footsteps of ex-Mwamba’s Edward Rombo — the first Kenyan rugby professional who was signed by a UK club.

The interest in Injera, who has been in sparkling form in the just concluded IRB Sevens series, is blindingly obvious.

He became the first Kenyan player to top the IRB Sevens try scorer board with 42 tries in the just concluded season.

To cap a wonderful season, he was nominated for the IRB Sevens Player of the Season award together with his brother Humphrey Kayange, though it was England captain Ollie Phillips who walked away with the award.

Still, Injera is highly rated abroad and locally.

But it is not only the international sides that are scouting and scrambling for local rugby talent.

Kenyan rugby clubs are in a talent war as corporate cash pours into the sport that has gathered a huge following to the extent that politicians use it as an example of how the country can achieve success.

With a great set of players, local rugby clubs boost their chances of swelling their trophy cabinets and hence luring corporate cash.

But then, the talent war sets the stage for the survival of the fittest. The weaker clubs, both financially and in terms of player base, shrivel and the mighty survive.

Take for instance Strathmore University which is scouting for talent among high school students dangling offers for scholarships.

The move seems to be paying off given the disciplined and determined performance the university side put up at this year’s Great Rift Ten a side held over the past weekend.

Strathmore dethroned defending champions Impala 22 – 7 to lift the 20th edition of the tournament. On the other hand, Mwamba appears the easy prey.

Now, besides Injera, the club is at risk of losing some of the four other players who feature for the national sevens team. But coach John Onyango is putting on a brave face.

“Injera is a humble boy who came to Mwamba a few years ago, nobody knew him then,” said Onyango.