SARU red tape holding Treu back

Paul Treu's appointment as the new coach of Kenya's Sevens team is being delayed by red tape in his home country, South Africa.

According to a report in mass circulation Kenyan publication, The Daily Nation, Treu was scheduled to have be unveiled as the new mentor of Shujaa Pride on Wednesday.

However, he won't be released by the South African Rugby Union until his contract formally expires at the end of October.

It was announced last month that Treu vacated his position as Springbok Sevens head coach, following discussions with SARU President Oregan Hoskins, CEO Jurie Roux, players and other Sevens stakeholders.

Hoskins said a "mutual decision" had been reached to seek a new head coach for the BlitzBokke.

However, it remains uncertain whether or not Treu was pressured into agreeing to part ways prior to the 2016 Olympic Games.

Treu had long spoken of his desire to coach the BlitzBokke at the Games, a desire acknowledged by Hoskins, with Hoskins adding that no alternatives could be agreed to keep Treu at SARU.

It raised questions as to whether Treu had been "encouraged" to vacate the head coaching role and consequently turned down other roles within the set-up after being pushed out of the door.

Some reports even claimed that players within the team were the driving force behind Treu's exit.

However, he remained tightlipped and complimentary of SARU – which makes their unwillingness to release him earlier all the more puzzling.

The 42-year-old Treu, who was in charge of the BlitzBokke for eight seasons, was in Kenya a month ago and met Kenya Rugby Union bosses in a process that was to lay the groundwork of taking over from England's Mike Friday, who resigned in August.

However, KRU Chairman Mwangi Muthee disclosed that the new Kenya Sevens management can only take over after the opening leg of the 2013/2014 IRB World Sevens Series in Gold Coast – scheduled to take place on October 5 and 6.

Muthee said SARU has delayed clearing Treu until his contract elapses on October 31.

He added that they had 14 applications for the positions, from as far as New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, England and South Africa.

"There are several bottlenecks which we hope to clear," Muthee told the newspaper.

"Stakes are high and so are the choices of coaches around the world," he added.

"Let me reiterate that we are still in the process of identifying who is going to be the Kenya Sevens coach.

"Yes, [Paul] Treu was around, but we still have things that we need to clear."

Source: The Daily Nation