Incredible Injera

The International Rugby Board (IRB) may have had other intentions when awarding the ‘Player of the Year’ award, but it remains without a shadow of a doubt that the most outstanding player during the 2008/9 IRB Sevens Circuit was Collins Injera. With 42 tries to his name (including tries over IRB 7’s Circuit “Player of the Year” Ollie Phillips’ England team), Collins Injera stood out like a colossus.
Without meaning to disrespect Ollie Phillips in anyway, there’s no logical reason as to why he beat Injera to the award. If anything, the award should’ve had gone to Renfred Dazel of South Africa who was in fettle form as he spearheaded the southern African nation to the overall 2009 title. Injera, on the other hand, was simply incredible. The speedy Mwamba RFC winger (who is fabled to have ran the 100m dash in 10.1 seconds while still in high school), led Kenya’s remarkable and often spellbinding performance during this season’s campaign. Injera was a joy to watch, if you could catch him, and simply a refreshing addition to the championship.
If the IRB is serious about getting 7’s rugby into the Olympics, then they need to style up and give their awards in a fair and open manner. The only way 7’s rugby is going to be considered as an Olympic Games sport is if it shows its global diversity. Overlooking the sterling performance of an emerging rugby nation like Kenya is simply killing the Olympic dream for 7’s rugby.
That said, the IRB can keep their award; Collo, you’re number one in our book! Keep lighting up the rugby pitches across the world.