The Super Series tournament which started in 2003 is set to resume between May and June this year after the 11 year break this year with the aim to catapult the 15’s game to greater heights before the international season starts in July as expressed by the KRU boss Alexander Mutai.
“We are resuming the Rugby Super Series this year. We want it to be a feeder program for the Simbas as well as spur competition within the Kenya Rugby fraternity. Right now, we are in the process of looking for sponsors who will come on board to fund this venture which we believe will change the face of rugby in our country,” expressed Mutai to the Star.
Mutai said it will take up the Franchises format which will be similar to the one that was played several years ago with the Kenya Cup club across the country..
“It will almost be similar to the last one we had a couple of years back. We will modify it a bit and those details will be issued in due course,” he added.
Making adjustments, the chairman noted that the Super Series will complement the Kenya and Enterprise Cups tournaments.
“It will be a big boost for our 15s rugby team. I believe with the return of the series, our Simbas will be battle-hardened and will play more structured rugby as they head into the international season. We also expect them to grow the profile of the game,” said Mutai
The Super Series tournament which started in 2003 with five Kenya franchise teams namely— the Lions, Rhinos, Sharks, Cheetahs, and Buffaloes attracted the country’s top 100 players from various clubs.
The Lions consisted of players from KCB, Mwamba and Mombasa Sports Club while the Rhinos had players from Quins and Nakuru. Impala and Nondies made up the Cheetahs franchise.
The Sharks consisted of players from Mean Machine, Strathmore and Mombasa Polytechnic.
In 2007, the tournament made an expansion as it now included Uganda and Tanzania. Uganda was represented by Rwenzori, and Victoria while Tanzania had Twiga.
The Rhinos were the most successful side in the Super Series, winning the title four times. The Cheetahs won it twice with Buffaloes and Lions winning it once each
Mutai said plans are underway to professionalize the game in the country in line with his manifesto when he took on the role as boss.
“We recently talked to some landowners who would lease land in Nairobi and Eldoret for clubs to build their facilities and it’s something we are looking forward to shortly,” noted Mutai.
