Kenya 7s stars set for inaugural Ultimate Sevens Championship draft
- Kenya 7s stars among the elite players set to be drafted this week for the inaugural 2026 Ultimate Sevens Championship.
- Shujaa have 10 players included in the draft, while the Kenya Lionesses have four standout stars on the roster.
- The campaign will feature events in Spain, Wales and France before culminating with the Grand Final at London’s Gtech Community Stadium on September 24.
Kenya 7s stars from the women’s Kenya Lionesses and the men’s Shujaa are among the elite players set to be drafted this week for the inaugural 2026 Ultimate Sevens Championship.
In a draft pool released by the organizers on Monday, August 3, Shujaa have 10 players included in the draft, while the Kenya Lionesses have four standout stars on the roster.
Tony Omondi, Vincent Onyala and Chrisant Ojwang, three of Kenya’s most experienced players in the Shujaa squad, headline the list.
They are joined by Shujaa standouts led by co-captains George Ooro and Samuel Asati, while John Okoth, Kevin Wekesa, Nygel Amaitsa, Patrick Odongo and Festus Shiasi complete the 10-man contingent.
ALSO READ: Rugby Africa President Mensah praises Nairobi after successful HSBC SVNS 2 showcase
On the women’s side, speedster Freshia Odour has been drafted alongside fellow flyer Sinaida Nyachio, with Maureen Muritu and the experienced Sheila Chajira also making the draft pool.
Kenya’s 14 elite players will join a minimum of 120 players from across the globe, featuring some of the world’s best men’s and women’s rugby sevens stars.
The mix includes Olympians, established internationals, and breakout stars from the HSBC SVNS World Series, all in a format crafted to showcase their skill, speed, and athleticism.
What is the Ultimate Sevens Championship?
The Ultimate Sevens is a new private global rugby sevens championship set to launch in September 2026, backed by BIA Sports Group.
Designed to deliver fast-paced, high-impact rugby sevens action, the championship will take place at iconic sporting venues across Europe during its inaugural season.
The campaign will feature events in Spain, Wales and France before culminating with the Grand Final at London’s Gtech Community Stadium on September 24.
ALSO READ: Kenya Rugby Sevens – Kenya 7s squad, stats, fixtures, results, standings and latest news
The competition will feature six founding clubs, each with its own identity representing key global rugby regions.
Each club will field both a 12-player men’s and women’s team, with the two competitions running simultaneously at every venue.
The six clubs competing in the inaugural season are Albion Athletic Sevens Club, Atlantic Novas Sevens Club, Foudre Bleue Sevens Club, Pacific Current Sevens Club, Clan Taran Sevens Club and Sol Feroz Sevens Club.
The six club coaches have already been confirmed, with Philip Snyman leading Clan Taran, Shannon Fraser at Albion Athletic, Kelly Brazier managing Atlantic Novas, Maria Ribera heading Foudre Bleue, Crystal Kaua directing Pacific Current, and Paco Hernández guiding Sol Feroz.
How will the player draft happen, and how could Kenya 7s stars be selected?
The tournament organizers had already directly contracted 24 elite marquee players; 12 men and 12 women ahead of the draft.
These global stars were assigned to franchises before the draft to ensure each club had an even distribution of top-tier talent.
ALSO READ: Explained! Why Rugby, including Kenya 7s, is missing from the 2026 Commonwealth Games
For the remaining players, the Ultimate Sevens Player Draft will allow the six founding clubs to build their squads as lead coaches select from a draft pool featuring some of the most exciting men’s and women’s sevens players in the world.
The draft pool will feature a minimum of 120 eligible players, split equally between the men’s and women’s competitions. Selections will be made over multiple rounds, with lead coaches given a limited time window for every pick.
How will players be assigned?
Before the Player Draft begins, each club will already have two male and two female marquee players allocated.
Each club’s lead coach will then draft the remaining players, with just 45 seconds to make each selection. Every pick will shape the squad.
Each squad will comprise two marquee players, nine elite players and one academy player.
So, how will the selections unfold?
There will be five rounds of drafting in addition to the pre-allocated marquee players. Each club begins with two marquee players.
In Round 1, clubs will select two players, followed by two more in Round 2, another two in Round 3, three players in Round 4 and one academy player in Round 5.
Once the draft is completed, the full squad rosters are expected to be announced before the end of the week.
2026 Ultimate Sevens Championship calendar
The tour kicks off on September 5 at Madrid’s Ontime Butarque Stadium, followed by Round 2 on September 12 at Cardiff Arms Park.
The competition then heads to Parc des Sports Aguilera in Biarritz on September 18 before wrapping up with the Grand Final on September 24 at London’s Gtech Community Stadium.
- Round 1 (Madrid, Spain): Saturday, September 5, 2026 – Ontime Butarque Stadium.
- Round 2 (Cardiff, Wales): Saturday, September 12, 2026 – Cardiff Arms Park.
- Round 3 (Biarritz, France): Friday, September 18, 2026 – Parc des Sports Aguilera.
- Grand Final (London, England): Thursday, September 24, 2026 – Gtech Community Stadium.
Related
PakarPBN
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.
In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.
SportPesa Racing duo Varese and Kareithi set for KNRC Round 1 test at Stoni Athi
- SportPesa Racing driver Leonardo Varese and his navigator Kigo Kareithi are set for the opening round of the 2026 Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC).
- The 254 Motorsports Club will host the season opener at Stoni Athi Grille from July 31 to August 1.
- Varese and Kareithi will tackle the demanding Stoni Athi stages while continuing to develop and test the locally built Toyota GR Yaris Rally3.
SportPesa Racing driver Leonardo Varese and his long-time navigator Kigo Kareithi are ready for the opening round of the 2026 Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC).
The 254 Motorsports Club will host the season opener at Stoni Athi Grille from July 31 to August 1, with the event expected to attract a strong field after the Motorsport Kenya Federation (MK-F) waived all entry fees for the opening round.
Leading online gaming firm SportPesa will be fully represented at the event as veteran Varese and Kareithi prepare to tackle the challenging terrain while continuing to test the locally built Toyota GR Yaris Rally3, which they will campaign this season.
“Yes, Kigo and I are driving the Yaris GR,” Varese confirmed ahead of the event.
“We are racing under the vast SportPesa sports sponsorship programme. As part of developing the new car to its full potential and for rally conditions in Kenya, we shall be taking part in KNRC Round 1. We are looking forward to further run tests on the new car at Stoni Athi.”
ALSO READ: Why SportPesa Racing driver Leonardo Varese will compete in the national category at the WRC Safari Rally 2026
SportPesa Racing duo Varese and Kareithi set for KNRC Round 1 test
The team tested the Yaris GR at the last Shell National Autocross & Autocross Plus event, but Varese believes there is still plenty of work to do.
Having debuted the machine during the 2026 WRC Safari Rally earlier this year, Varese says the team is still discovering its full capabilities as they head to the rocky stages of Athi.
“We are still learning the car. In the Safari, we were driving at 60 per cent. The car is pretty much standard. We are doing the developments and testing. But it has huge room for improvement,” he added.
The Toyota GR Yaris Rally3 is a modified prototype inspired by the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Championship (WRC) cars.
Varese and his co-driver are no strangers to success on the rally scene.
The 54-year-old is a six-time Kenya National Rally Championship 2WD champion, having dominated the category for more than a decade. He won national titles in 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Over the weekend, the duo, alongside other competitors, will contest an event run entirely on gravel competitive stages, while the liaison sections will feature a mix of tarmac and gravel.
Crews will tackle seven special stages covering 139.70km within an overall route of 158.91km.
The itinerary features three stages repeated once and another stage run twice. Chui 1 and Chui 2 each measure 19.10km, while Simba 1 and Simba 2, at 27.89km apiece, will provide the longest and toughest tests of the rally.
ALSO READ: SportPesa earns special praise ahead of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2026
The route is rounded off by three spectator-friendly runs; Spectator Stages 1, 2, and 3.
The final pass will serve as the Power Stage. At 15.24km, it is the shortest test on the itinerary but could prove decisive as crews chase valuable bonus points.
For Varese and Kareithi, the fight for early championship momentum will be just as intense as the battle against the clock.
Victory would earn them 30 points, while second and third place are worth 24 and 21 points respectively.
The points scale extends to 14th place, with every classified finisher beyond that receiving one point, placing a premium on consistency across all seven stages.
Competitive action gets underway on August 1. All cars must be in Parc Ferme by 7am ahead of the mandatory drivers’ briefing at 7:30 a.m. The first crew will leave the ceremonial ramp at 9am, tackling three demanding sections separated by two service halts.
The first car is expected at the finish control at 3:21pm, followed by final scrutineering and the second Stewards’ Meeting.
Provisional results will be published at 4:45pm., before the prize-giving ceremony at Rally Headquarters once the final classification has been confirmed.
Varese and Kigo are back on track with solid backing from leading online gaming firm SportPesa, who earlier this year came on board with a massive KSh 40 million sponsorship.
Related
PakarPBN
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.
In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.
Timothy Ouma set for action as Lech Poznan host Shakhtar Donetsk in Conference League clash
Harambee Stars midfielder Timothy Ouma could feature tonight when Lech Poznan take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 16 tie.
Lech Poznan head into the clash looking to continue their European journey after progressing through the playoff round. The Polish side defeated Kuopion Palloseura 3-0 on aggregate to book their place in the last 16.
Their path to the Conference League has been lengthy. After winning the Polish Ekstraklasa title last season, Lech initially competed in the Champions League qualifiers. They eliminated Breidablik Kopavogur before falling to Red Star Belgrade in the third qualifying round.
The defeat dropped them into the Europa League playoffs, where they were eliminated by KRC Genk, eventually sending them to the Conference League.
ALSO READ: Harambee Stars midfielder Timothy Ouma features in big UEFA Conference League win
In the league phase of the competition, Lech Poznan produced a solid campaign with three wins, one draw and two defeats, finishing 11th to secure a place in the knockout playoffs.
However, the Polish side head into Thursday’s encounter on the back of two consecutive defeats in domestic competition, something head coach Niels Frederiksen will be hoping to correct.
Shakhtar Donetsk, on the other hand, come into the tie in excellent form. The Ukrainian giants finished sixth in the Conference League league phase after winning four, drawing one and losing just once in six matches.
Under the guidance of Arda Turan, Shakhtar have also been dominant domestically and currently sit at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League standings.
The visitors have won all three matches since returning from the winter break and have suffered only one competitive defeat away from home this season, highlighting the challenge awaiting Lech Poznan.
Timothy Ouma
Recent form
Lech Poznan – Conference League form:L W D W W W
Lech Poznan – form in all competitions:W W W W L L
Shakhtar Donetsk – Conference League form:W L W W W D
Shakhtar Donetsk – form in all competitions:L W W W W W
What time does Lech Poznan vs Shakhtar Donetsk kick off?
The match will be played at the Enea Stadion in Poland and is scheduled to kick off at 11:00 PM (EAT) on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
Team news
Lech Poznan are expected to be without several players due to injury, including Filip Jagiełło, Kornel Lisman and Radoslaw Murawski.
Forward Mikael Ishak has been Lech Poznan’s standout performer in the competition with five goals in eight appearances and is expected to lead the attack alongside Luis Palma.
Shakhtar Donetsk will travel with a fully fit squad. Striker Lassina Traore has returned from injury in strong form, scoring four goals in three matches since the winter break, and is expected to spearhead the attack.
Possible starting lineups
Lech Poznan:
Mrozek; Pereira, Monka, Milic, Gurgul; Gholizadeh, Kozubal, Ouma, Bengtsson; Ishak, Palma.
Shakhtar Donetsk:
Riznyk; Konoplia, Bondar, Matviyenko, Henrique; Alisson, Pedrinho, Nazaryna, Gomes, Palmares; Traore.
Prediction
Lech Poznan will hope home advantage works in their favour, but their recent domestic setbacks could prove costly against a Shakhtar Donetsk side that has been in impressive form.
With the Ukrainian side carrying strong momentum, they could edge the contest and take a narrow advantage into the second leg.
Prediction: Lech Poznan 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk.
Related
PakarPBN
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.
In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.