RugbyU: Kenya fires coach Jerome Paarwater

NAIROBI: Kenya fired its national rugby union coach Jerome Paarwater on Monday after five years in charge during which he came close to leading the country to a maiden World Cup appearance.

Kenya Rugby Union gave no reason for the sacking of the former South Africa scrum-half, who helped oversee the revival of the struggling team, nicknamed the Simbas, or Lions in Swahili.

Under his leadership, Kenya lost to Zimbabwe in the final match when needing only a point to qualify for the 2015 finals in England.

"Jerome has been a key influence for the Simbas, guiding the team up the world rankings," KRU said.

The Kenyan team is yet to match the success of the Sevens squad, which has emerged as one of the teams to watch in the World Sevens series.