Paul Treu to take over Kenya Sevens Paul Treu. Photo courtesy KRU. - Paul Treu in Kenya by Nov 1

- His No. 2 is fellow South African Vuyo Zangqa -- technical bench to include Ochieng’, Kayange

Kenya Rugby Union: Nairobi, Kenya - October 23, 2013 - SOUTH African coach Paul Treu will take up his role in charge of the Kenya Sevens team by November 1.

The Kenya Rugby Union on Tuesday announced Treu’s management line-up including three other compatriots. One of them will be Vuyo Zangqa, to become the Kenya Sevens’ attack coach. He was second in command in the South African Sevens’ team that Treu coached for a long time until recently.

Both men have contracts, running until October 31, with the South African Rugby Union [SARU].

Kenya’s training programme resumes on November 1 and the KRU chairman, Mwangi Muthee said Treu and all his South African assistants will be in Nairobi by then.

“Some of them will start arriving next week,” he said.

On Tuesday morning Muthee finalised KRU signatures on the contracts going out to Treu and all the South African personnel stipulating monthly salaries, allowances, housing, transport, medical insurance, bonuses and other perks.

At the same time, he said, contracts of Kenyan staff who will be working alongside Treu and of the Sevens’ team players were ready for signing at the Union headquarters in Nairobi.

Treu will be in Kenya until 2016, as Head Coach and Performance Director for an ambitious programme aimed to climax with the country’s participation in the Olympic Games to be held in the summer of that year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dubbed “Operation Rio”, it will be Treu’s absolute target rather than regular top placing results in the IRB [International Rugby Board] annual series.

Immediately, Treu’s technical line-up will include compatriots; Vuyo Zangqa (attack coach), Graham Bentz (strength and conditioning, sports science) and Dr Karen Schwabe (sports medicine). Schwabe will take up her appointment in Nairobi on January 1.

Later on, the KRU plans to engage other South African experts recommended by Treu on consultancy basis.

Muthee said: “on the radar to be engaged as soon as funds allow,” are:

Dr Ross Tucker (high performance strategy, sports science and talent pathway development), Sharief Hendricks (game analysis and sports technology), Benoit Capostagno (sport science, recovery and monitoring), Tony Trad (specialist coaching, Australian touch rugby model) and Dr Kobus Neethling (mental skills and player creativity/thinking specialist).

“With co-operation from the Kenya Government and the forthcoming Kenya Sports Institute, we shall find placings for these experts both at the Institute and in local hospitals and institutions of learning. This will be a national asset, a resource for other sports in Kenya, generally, including athletics, volleyball, cricket, football and other sports academies” Muthee said.

The KRU will have to look for money to fund an enlarged Kenya Sevens’ technical team that Treu will have in Kenya and on tour during the IRB Series completion.

Apart from 12 players, the IRB caters for only four other officials on the Circuit Series’ programme.

Yet, apart from the four South Africans, Treu’s party will also include Kenyans:

Felix Ochieng’ (assistant coach), Humphrey Kayange (player/coach), Lamech Bongeri (physiotherapist) and Steve Sewe (team manager).

Michael Owino and Geoffrey Kimani, Kenyan strength and conditioning practitioners, will also assist Bentz. George Odhiambo, formerly the physiotherapist for the Kenya Sevens’ team will now be in charge of the Kenya national [XV] team.

Muthee said in the modern game under cut-throat competition Kenya had no option other than “as much as possible trying to match the technical investments by our top competitors in the IRB Circuit especially New Zealand, England, South Africa and Fiji.”

He said all top teams were looking to clinch the best coaching and management personnel available.

“It does not matter where you get that. Ask yourself, why would a country with such pedigree of success at Word Sevens like Fiji go for [Ben Ryan] an England coach?

“In Kenya, we had an eye opener when Mike Friday [an English man] and Chris Brown [New Zealander] took our team right to the top in just one season. We thank them for giving us a taste of professionalism and success and we have no option other than to build on that.”

The KRU has reached an agreement with Treu that local coaches and sports science experts will be able to permanently study under the Kenya Sevens’ programme.

“They will register with the KRU and will be provided with access to Treu’s training sessions. Our intention is to create a pool of local experts and that in about five years we shall be able to export abroad, expertise across the board.

“It is our intention that money and resources spent on the three-year ‘Operation Rio’ programme will greatly impact on transfer of expertise from our international partners [South Africa] to Kenya.”

The most highly paid staff in “Operation Rio” will be Treu himself who will be earning a nett monthly salary of Sh935,000 [$11,000].

He will also receive; four economy class air tickets for Cape Town-Nairobi-Cape Town per contractual year and three economy tickets for Nairobi-Johannesburg- Nairobi per year, allowances while on the IRB Series tour and while in Kenya be provided with a car, housing, fuel, medical insurance and paid-for WIFI, mobile telephone services.

On top of that, success of “Operation Rio” coming at the end of the three-year contacted period will result in healthy bonuses. Upon the Kenya Sevens team qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games, some members of Treu’ SA technical team, for example attack coach Zangqa, will receive $250,000 (Sh21m) nett.

Upon the team winning a Bronze medal, Zangqa will get $50,000 (Sh4.5m); upon the team winning a Silver medal, $100,000 (Sh8.5m) and upon the team getting Gold medal $250,000 (Sh21m). The rest of the teams’ bonuses will be negotiated through the sponsors and the government of Kenya. KRU is taking an insurance policy to cover for the bonuses. These bonuses will be paid not less than seven days after the team attains those achievements



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