Good work by the team...

Consistency is a problem with this team

That depends on what you mean by "where we should be".

In 2013 under Mike Friday, Kenya finished 5th in the standings ahead of Argentina, Australia, England, Wales and the so called mighty USA. If Kenya continued on that trajectory, they would have won a tournament by now.

And NO. None of these countries have more raw talent than Kenya except possibly Fiji.

I am glad Kenya are not as poor as they were in 2015. But I would not say they are doing quite well. In the 2013 Wellingtons, Kenya beat Argie, South Africa and NZ and reached the final.

Let me tell you - I said it before... you must rebuild with a target! Kenya 7s is falling prey to short term wins and I will be surprised if we cross position 5 again. We keep on being tempted to play our old guards in order to be seen as 'good enough'. If I was the coach I would just ensure we have our head above water and build up. Occasionally throwing in the big guns to salvage some 1/4s points but really with a game plan to train our younger players in the big leagues - Australia has done it and now the team has started firing all cylinders and I think they are targeting RIO. But anyway... since we seem to be happy with doing good... instead of winning something - tuendelee vivyo hivyo!

What criteria are you using to judge a full strength Kenya team losing out to teams playing second string and experimental lineups?

I too wonder the teams he is referring to!!!!

If you read my post closely you will realize that I did not say Kenya has more talent than anyone. It is you who said that these countries have more talent than Kenya. This is what you said:

they are mostly rugby powerhouses with many times more cash, talent

I was offering a rebuttal to the idea that these countries have more talent than Kenya.

In terms of raw talent I believe the Pacific islands are the only countries that are genetically more adapted to contact sports. These are countries with very low populations yet they produce a disproportionate number of players on contact sports. For example, in American football, there are 30 players from American Samoa which only has a population of 65,000. I am not sure why but I have theories.

And the commentators are right when they say Kenya has not managed its talent well. Look at the case of Mike Friday. We had an excellent coach who was taking Kenya further than it ever had. Then silly politics intervened and Friday left as did Mwangi Muthee. Now Friday is working his magic for another team and Kenya has regressed.

And Kenya has so far done a shoddy job of managing talent. If you find out how the colonial educators developed rugby talent at Lenana and Nairobi school you will see that it is much better than how rugby talent is being developed in Kenyan schools now 40 years later.
None other than Edward Rombo said as much in a TV interview a few years back.

Suffice to say those rugby structures fell apart when the Muzungu left. And it explains why rugby programs that are run by whites like Zimbabwe and Namibia have historically done better than those run by blacks. Its a bitter pill to swallow. You may call it a polite insult but its true. This is especially true at 15 a side rugby but to a lesser extent sevens which requires fewer technical skills.

Kenya has improved at sevens but with the right structures it can go even further. Kenya has not done a decent job of developing technical skills. It is true however that Kenya's technical skills have improved. If you look at videos of Kenya rugby from around 2004, you will be shocked at how poor Kenya's technical skills were back then. But we still have a way to go.

SA and Fiji have not made progress as you claim. SA have always been good and they are still good. Fiji also has always been good but they were even more dominant in the 1980s and 1990s.

Olympics are coming up and every team is currently preparing for that.

The challenge should be how does Kenya bridge the gap with the truly elite teams? If we have any ambition then at a minimum we should be aiming for a medal at Rio.