Kenya Simbas head coach Ian Snook has made six changes ahead of the second match of the World Cup repechage qualifier against Hong Kong today in Marseille.
Former Captain Wilson K’opondo, Elkeans Musonye, Felix Ayange and Nelson Oyoo are all in the starting line up as Simbas brace up for Hong Kong this Saturday.
Ephraim Oduor and Dalmus Chituyi will start the match off the bench.
Skipper Davis Chenge will sit out of the match, owing to a shoulder injury he picked during the Canada match but the technical bench expects to have him back in the team on Friday next week when they face Germany.
Mohammed Omollo, Moses Amusala, Oliver Mang’eni and Darwin Mukidza have been rested for this weekend’s match. It’s a must win match for the Simbas if they harbour hopes of qualification for the Rugby World cup next year in Japan . The Simbas lost their opening match to Canada 65-19 with Hong Kong losing 26-9 to Germany.
Hong Kong and Kenya have met five times since 2011 with the Asian outfit winning the opener 44-17 in Dubai. Kenya carried the day in 2016— winning two legs 24-18 and 34-18— during the Tatu City series at the RFUEA. Hong Kong edged the Simbas twice last year —wining 43-34 at the RFUEA ground and 40-30 at the Four Nations Cup in Hong Kong coupled with a 19-19 draw.
Snook was upbeat about the team’s chances after losing the opener to Canada and said the Asian outfit will be a threat in today’s game. “They are a good all-round team who are well organised and have several attacking threats. We will need to step up a few levels in our game in all aspects if we are to beat them,” said Snook in reference to Hong Kong. Snook said they have identified the weaknesses which were evident in the match against Canada last week and expects the team to fire on all cylinders.
“The set pieces went okay after the initial hiccup at the scrum. We had some good attacking opportunities but were a bit rusty and made too many mistakes. Lately, we have focused on maintaining our phase attack and defensive patterns.”
The match will kickoff at 3pm East African time.
Squad: Patrick Ouko, Colman Were, Joseph Odero, Wilson K’opondo (C), Malcolm Onsando, Andrew Amonde, Elkeans Musonye, Joshua Chisanga, Felix Ayange, Sammy Oliech, Willy Ambaka, Leo Seje Owade, Collins Injera, Nelson Oyoo and Tony Onyango;
Reserves: Philip Ikambili, Ephraim Oduor, Hilary Mwanjilwa, George Nyambua, Martin Owilah, Samson Onsomu, William Reeves and Dalmus Chituyi.