Strathmore Leos Captain Churchill Ooko – Bachelor of Business Information Technology 4th Year Student, has been named in the Samurai 7s team that will participate in the 20^th Edition of Safari 7s. Samurai 7s, the defending champions, named a strong team for the upcoming tournament that will take place from the 23^rd -25^th September, 2016.

 

The team consists of players who participated in the HSBC World 7s Series including, Kenya 7s international Patrice Agunda (Kenya Harlequins) & Dan Sikuta (Kabras Rugby), alongside Ignacio Martins & Francisco Hernandez who were part of the Spain 7s 2016 Rio Olympic squad. Other notable names included James Fleming & Scott Wight (Scotland).

 

Fahad Adil, current Strathmore Leos Team Manager, has also been named as the Assistant Team Manager for Samurai 7s. He was also part of the team that won last year’s Safari 7s edition. The Samurai 7s trained at the Strathmore University complex during their preparation in the 2015 edition when they were coached by Former Kenya 7s and current USA 7s Head Coach Mike ‘Geezer’ Friday. The 2015 Champions also had 2 Ex-Leos Players Cyprian Kuto & Felix Ayange.

 

Churchill has been leading the Leos side in the ongoing National 7s Circuit which wraps up this weekend at the Christie 7s. The Leos are currently 4th with 76 points 6 points behind 3rd Place Resolution Impala Saracens; Leos has one of the youngest sides in the Circuit but has only failed to reach the Semi-finals once out of the 5 legs. 

“It’s an honour to be named in the Samurai 7s side and be part of the #SamuraiFamily. To play with some of the best players in the World is actually a great feeling and more-so to play for this team which is arguably the most successful invitational team in the World,” Churchill stated.

 

Meanwhile, Samurai International has launched an OMG Iconix match shirt to be used during the Safari Sevens. The match shirt takes its inspiration from the amazing conservation work done by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, who are currently hand-raising Ambo, the newest member of the #SamuraiFamily. Orphaned elephant Ambo, who was recently adopted by Samurai Sportswear Managing Director Terry Sands, has provided much of the influence the in-house design team at Samurai needed to create this remarkable shirt. The new kit also honours the new partnership formed by Samurai International RFC, the world’s most prominent invitational rugby side and the pioneering DSWT.