Kenya Simbas are planning to have two friendly test matches and a training camp in South Africa ahead of the Rugby World Cup qualifiers next year.
Director of rugby Thomas Odundo said they will look at playing either Portugal, Germany or Spain before heading to the qualifiers which may be played in South Africa in June or July.
“We will be talking to this teams to see if we can have them down in Nairobi for the friendlies and at the same time head to Cape Town for an intensive two-week training camp in a bid to be ready for the qualifiers next year,” added Odundo. Team manager Wangila Simiyu said they have learnt lessons from the Four Nations Cup in Hong Kong. Kenya lost all the three matches thus 23-3 to Chile, 31-10 to Russia and 40-30 to Hong Kong.
“We have a lot of work to do in few months to come. We played three competitive sides who were better conditioned than us but going forward, we will be in a better shape for the World Cup qualifiers,” he noted.
Odundo was speaking during breakfast hosted for the team by the sponsors, SportPesa. Simiyu said the team will resume training in the next fortnight between December and April. “We will have training camps to keep the boys in shape and prepare adequately for the World Cup qualifiers,” added Simiyu.
Simiyu said the scrum, territorial kicking and kickoff will have to be polished. “We were exposed in those facets of the game and we have to go back to the drawing board to improve and match the teams we are going to be playing at the qualifiers,” added Simiyu.
Simiyu termed this year as the busiest ever in Kenya 15s history having played 12 matches in five months.
“This has been our toughest year. We have never played so many matches like this time. We must improve on our strength and conditioning because the more matches you play, the more fitter you have to be,” noted Simiyu.
He said blooding players like Peter Kilonzo, Brad Owako, Leo Seje and Erick Kere into he line-up will be valuable for the team heading into next year. “ It’s good we give this young players a chance to prove themselves as this will aid their development.”
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