Kenya Rugby Union has parted ways with Innocent Simiyu and appointed Damian McGrath as his replacement at the helm of the Kenya sevens national team (Shujaa).
Simiyu’s technical bench consisting of Mike Shamiah and Anthony Muchiri has also not been spared.
The dismissal of the three gentlemen comes at a time when the national team has been posting dismal performance in the World Sevens series repeatedly with no show of improvement.
Simiyu’s last assignment was in Uganda where Shujaa were dethroned as Africa champions but was lucky enough to secure a world cup ticket after coming in third.
McGrath will be in charge for the next two years leading up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The Englishman will be assisted by former Kenya Sevens women’s team Kevin Wambua and Geoffrey Kimani as the strength and conditioning coach.
“He boasts close to thirty years of coaching experience, having most recently led Germany 7s to victory at the World Rugby Challenger Series in Chile in 2020. He previously coached Canada 7s between 2016 and 2019, leading the Canadians to the cup title at the 2017 Singapore 7s,” KRU announced.
Before heading to Canada, the 64-year-old McGrath coached England Sevens at the 2002 and 2014 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Glasgow respectively and at the 2005 World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong.
He was also in charge of the Samoa 7s squad during the 2015-16 seasons, leading them to the cup title at the 2016 Paris 7s.
Kimani, who is part of the National Olympic Committee –Kenya Elite Performance set-up, is no stranger to the Shujaa set-up, and returns for a fourth stint, having previously served in the Strength and Conditioning role between 2007 and 2011, 2015-16 and 2017-18.