By James Waindi

By retaining the Kenya Rugby Football Union (KRFU) chairmanship, Richard Omwela may have won the battle, but his immediate challenge is to oversee a successful Junior World Rugby Trophy in April.

More immediate, however, would be to have a good run at the world cup, which kicks off on Thursday in Dubai.

The Sevens team has sent shock waves in the IRB Series following wins over South Africa and New Zealand and Omwela believes Virgin Boys will claim more scalps in Dubai.

He faces the daunting task of overseeing a team that would challenge favourably for honours at the Junior World rugby Trophy. Omwela also believes rugby should start from the grassroots— a rallying call of his challenger Mwangi Muthee that had him sweating during last Wednesday’s poll.

Muthee received the support of Universities and a number of clubs after highlighting the union’s failure to recognise Western province, arguably the cradle of Kenya Rugby.

” This is a wake-up call and we have no option but to deliver. We have worked hard for the game and the evidence is there for all to see but we still have to make things better,” said Omwela.

Schools partnership

Omwela said the union had been at the root of developing rugby at every level and was now targeting to develop the game in Primary Schools following a partnership with the Ministry of Education.

” This is a delicate programme which must be nurtured and rather than concentrate at the top, the KRFU under my chairmanship has taken the challenge and we are convinced it is the right direction,” Omwela said.

Omwela’s impressive track record over the last two terms is what earned the extrovert chairman a third term at the helm of Kenya Rugby Football Union (KRFU).

Omwela who had been elected unopposed in the last two elections after taking the leadership from George Kariuki, garnered 12 votes while his competitor Mwangi Muthee, a former international player and Mwamba RFC chairman, amassed 6 votes.

Three directors – Innocent Moturi, Willy Ombisi and Gordon Anampiu – also retained their posts for a final term. Moturi had 13 votes, while Anampiu garnered 16 and Ombisi amassed 15.