Seb Lauzier speaks with Paul Treu ahead of his first tournament in charge of Kenya, the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.
There's a sparkle back in Paul Treu's eyes. Talking with him earlier in the week, as he took charge of a training session with his new Kenyan players at the Sharjah Wanderers ground, it was as if a new man had emerged from the shadows.
Treu is a class act and he was first very generous in his praise for the South African players he worked with in winning 14 Cup titles and a World Series as South Africa Sevens coach. But at the same time it is clear that he is relishing the chance to start afresh with Kenya on the HSBC Sevens World Series.He admits to thinking long and hard about the decision, whether it was the right move. He spoke with a lot of people, had second thoughts, but in the end it was the players who helped him make his decision.
"When I came over and met the players for the first time in Nairobi, even before I was appointed, there was a connection there, and I could see that there was a certain type of hunger and desire in the players to learn," he said in the 'Big Interview' in Dubai, which will also air in the next edition of IRB Sevens World.
"And when I asked the captain (Andrew Amonde) what they wanted to achieve, he told me 'to be the best in the world' and for me it was a team who needed someone to give them some guidance. I had expertise to offer and took a leap of faith.
"It's early days, there are still lots of things to put in place, but I'm not looking back."
Clearly, like Mike Friday before him, Treu will face challenges around player availability for training and tournaments - Oscar Ouma and Billy Odhiambo pulled out of Dubai at the last minute due to studies and exams - and even in Nairobi there is no one training facility to call home. He talks in glowing terms of the work Friday did with the team and how he must now build on that and help them overcome their various adversities.
And it is perhaps in accepting all of these road bumps and 'challenges' that Treu has reached a remarkable state of calm.
"It's completely different from where we've come from with South Africa, where everything was always intense. I've always been intense on the side and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with the Kenyan players, but one thing that I've realised soon is that they play better when they're relaxed and when they're a happy team."
For anyone who has known Treu - even his loyal protege Vuyo Zangqa who is back alongside him - it is baffling to see and hear him so seemingly laid-back. The same steely resolve will surely remain, but for now he appears content to learn as he goes with this new, talented group of players.
"We don't know whether we've done enough, or too much. We don't know whether the information we've tried to convey was an overload and also in terms of intensity and training volume, we won't know whether we've done the right thing until after this first tournament in Dubai.
"We also don't know whether the things we've done from a technical perspective are going to work with the Kenyan team, so we're just taking it one game at a time and looking to get over that first game against Portugal."
One thing Treu does do is point out the players he is missing. Oscar Ouma, Lavin Asego and Sidney Ashioya are big players for the Kenyans to do without, especially against New Zealand in pool play.
When they return, along with Humphrey Kayange, Billy Odhiambo and Dennis Ombachi, the Kenyans will be a force worth reckoning with, and maybe that first and elusive tournament title won't be too long in coming.
Treu will appear on next week's 'IRB Sevens World' highlights show from Dubai. Seb Lauzier interviews the teams for TV after every match of the HSBC Sevens World Series. You can follow him and tweet your questions @seblauzier and @irbsevens
