Two-weekends of 7s rugby

For the first time in a long time, I was able to indulge in two of my favorite pass times - travel and rugby. The first destination was Hollywood, LA (not exactly but close). It was the Dignity Health Sports Park, home of LA Galaxy. Kenya Sevens team Shujaa were in the house.

Traveling can be fun but at times - especially when you are on a budget - it gets tedious. This was one of them. There is no direct flight from my nearest airport to LA which meant a long layover in Las Vegas just to make the 45 minute to LA. Luckily I made it because my location has been pounded by storm before my flight and at some time, the airport had been closed!

During the layover in Vegas, it was time to catch up with an assignment which was due on Sunday at 11.59pm (how they assign that weird time is a big question). Obviously, I was not going to make it and asked for an extension which was granted.

It was raining cats and dogs in LA when we landed! They never thought of shelters where people pick up rides after taking the shuttle from the airport! Drenched to the toe, I arrived at my humble abode and continued to do my assignment until early morning.

It was time to make my way to the stadium. Luckily, the organizers had some hot beverage for the entire day. Shujaa started the day well by beating Australia After that, some of the results were close while some did not reflect the effort put in by this team which is in a transition. How could we miss a conversion infront of the posts that cost us a main cup quarter final?

Day 1 was wet! That is an understatement. Twice, the matches were stopped because of weather advisory. A first for me because the closes to such weather was a few years back in Las Vegas - Sam Boyd Stadium.

The second day went well. Always great to meet familiar faces at the Kenya corner, officials from the Kenya Consulate in LA and a former player who is now in the Sports ministry who had flown from 254. Ministry of Rugby were in the house too! and it was time to make my way back. Another long layover in Vegas - you guessed it, more time to work on this assignment. They have nice work stations at the Harry Rain International airport (was it not Mccaran the last time I visited?). Come morning, I was on my way to the final destination. It had not snowed!

The following week, I was off to BC Place in Vancouver. My first time. Again another long layover in Vegas - more time to do an assignment. For a good change, the snow had melted. I had made a big mistake because I thought this was a two-day tournament on Saturday and Sunday. My bad, the women's tournament had been included for the first time and therefore we had three days. I missed the first day.

The second day was great. Talk about being professional. At the media center, the organizers made it clear that working journalists should not have an attire aligned to any of the participating teams. Also, the journalists could not cheer any team!

Two days of good rugby. Great to see one of my favorite teams, the Colombia Women's 7s team and Brazil. Great atmosphere. I shall definitely come back. Perhaps one of the highlights was when Shujaa won the African derby. Congratulations to Argentina and New Zealand Women 7's teams in a tournament of upsets. Had hoped to see some faces I had not seen in a long time but I guess that makes it mandatory to plan well for next year.

Kenya team is fighting relegation, a position we have not been in a long time. Some changes have been made but that has not lifted us off the red zone. World Rugby have 'wisely' decided that there will be a reduction in the number of the men's teams from 16 to 12. Whether this is popular or not, the die has been cast.

From the two tournaments, my observations is that Kenya has not managed the transition of players well. Remember when the team had to literally beg for funds to compete in New Zealand and Australia?

There are exciting new faces and being thrown on the deeper end of the pool could be a bridge too far. Story for another day and there is something I am working on..watch this space.