Moran players during a game with Cape warriors on September 24,2016.[Photo/standard digital]
The Kenya Moran rugby team has pulled out of Assupol sevens scheduled over the weekend in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
During the announcement on Friday,The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) stated that the unexpected declaration of Wednesday as a public holiday meant delays in visa processing ahead of the tournament.In a statement released to media,KRU lamented that they could only complete visa processing on Friday making travelling difficult.“The team’s visas could only be finalized this morning, thus affecting the team’s scheduled travel originally planned for Friday morning,” KRU said in a statement.Efforts to book later flights to South Africa were futile forcing the withdrawal from the tournament.“The Kenya Rugby Union Board regrets this decision occasioned by unforeseen circumstances and will put in place measures to ensure adequate preparations for the Sevens World Series,” KRU added.The national Sevens Head Coach Innocent Simiyu had indicated the competition would be crucial in exposing new call ups ahead of the 2017/2018 World Sevens Rugby Series that kicks-off with the Dubai Sevens on December 1-2 in United Arab Emirates (UAE).Focus now shifts to the Safland Sevens tournament in Namibia on November.This comes as weekend KPL fixtures were also postponed to allow repeat presidential election.