Former Kenya 7s Head coach Paul Murunga and former Homeboyz Head Coach Simon Odongo are part of the Ulinzi Stars pre-season, the club confirmed.

The two are working with the side as strength and conditioning coaches to boost their fitness ahead of the new season scheduled to commence on 27 August. The club had some of their opening sessions at RFUEA Grounds, home to Kenya Harlequin.

SnC squad at Ulinzi

The club revealed on social media that the Kenya Harlequin Head Coach is a member of their strength and conditioning team, which is striving to get players in better form for the upcoming season.

“We are proud to introduce to you Paul “Pau” Murunga Amunavi. Yes, he is our very own! Our Ulinzi Rugby Legend! The World Rugby Level 2 and Level 1 7s tactician is a two-time Olympic Rugby Coach (Nanjin, China 2014 and Rio, Brazil 2016), Local and continental winner of varied accolades and achievements both as a player and a coach, the club stated.

“To cap it all, he brought Kenya the first ever World Rugby Sevens Series Title in Singapore 2016 as an Assistant Coach. The coach is part of the club’s pre-season fitness and conditioning team in a bid to get our stars back into shape,” the statement further revealed.

Working with his assistant

Murunga is also working with his former assistant and successor at Homeboyz Rugby, Odongo. Odongo posted on his social media pages:

“At times you just have to roll up your sleeves and show them how it’s done. Preseason training with Ulinzi Stars FC.”

Proper strength and conditioning reduce the chances of injuries and improves on-field performance by allowing players to run faster, leap higher, and run farther than their less developed opponents.