Shujaa co-captain George Ooro will lead six Kenya Sevens players into the inaugural Ultimate Sevens Championship, which brings together some of the world’s leading players across four European cities next month.
Ooro, who will partner Kenya Lionesses star Moreen Muritu at Sol Feroz, heads a contingent drawn from the men’s and women’s national teams that will represent six franchise sides in the new-look competition.
The championship will be staged in Madrid, Cardiff, Biarritz and London on September 5, 12, 18 and 24, respectively, and is designed to feature a mix of Olympians, world champions and top international players.
Ooro, a KCB forward, was part of Kenya’s successful Paris 2024 Olympic qualification campaign before featuring at the Games. Muritu, meanwhile, played in the Olympic qualifiers and was a key member of the Lionesses team that won the 2025 HSBC Challenger Series before securing promotion to the 2026 HSBC SVNS Division 2 through the Los Angeles playoffs.
Vincent Onyala, John Okoth and Lionesses captain Sheila Chajira will turn out for Clan Taran. Two-time Olympian Onyala also represented Kenya at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Okoth was part of Kenya’s Paris 2024 Olympic squad and has previously played for the national Under-20 side. He recently featured in India’s Rugby Premier League. Chajira, another two-time Olympian, also played for the Chennai Bulls in this year’s Rugby Premier League.
Paris 2024 Olympian Chrisant Ojwang will represent Atlantic Novas, while Kevin Wekesa, Tony Omondi and Lionesses dual international Freshia Oduor will line up for Pacific Current.
Wekesa, an environmental advocate and two-time Rugby Premier League player with Hyderabad Heroes, is a Paris Olympian. Omondi has been a member of Shujaa since 2021, while Oduor was instrumental in the Lionesses’ 2025 Challenger Series triumph and their subsequent promotion to SVNS Division 2.
The selection, however, means the six players will miss their respective clubs’ final two legs of the National Sevens Series — the Embu and Christie Sevens — scheduled for September 5-6 and 13-14.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chief executive Thomas Odundo welcomed the selections, saying they underlined the growing quality of Kenyan rugby.
“Their selection shows the growing strength of our players who have done the country proud and will be an asset for the teams they are playing for in the competition,” said Odundo.
He added that the growing number of Lionesses securing opportunities in overseas competitions was a positive development for the women’s game.
