Kenya Sevens will have a two-week pre-season training in a bid to turn around their fortunes ahead of the Hamilton and Sydney legs in the new year.
Speaking yesterday, head coach Paul Murunga said there is work to be done on the squad before they fly out down under mid next month for the third and fourth legs of the World Sevens Series.
Murunga highlighted kickoffs, defence and strength and conditioning as key areas of concern. “Our kickoffs were a problem and in the game of Sevens, you need to get your kickoff reception right. Our defence also needs work as we shipped in a lot of points. I think the boys have to work on fitness too considering we are losing the ball so many times in contact situations,” added Murunga.
Kenya managed two wins out of 12 games from the two opening legs in Dubai and Cape Town, beating Wales and Zimbabwe and have only amassed four points to sit in 14th position on the log.
Murunga was, however, confident that the side will not be relegated from the World Sevens Series “ I’m confident we can make it to at least three cup quarterfinals this season. I think there is a lot of potential in the team. If we tweak some of our plays, we are likely to move up the table,” he added.
Murunga was bullish of country’s chances in the Hamilton leg, where Kenya face South Africa, Scotland and France. “I think we can beat Scotland and France and qualify for the cup quarters. Our match against France was close in both tournaments and it could have gone either way. At the moment, Scotland are just fitter than us but in terms of skill and execution, we are almost at par,” he added. The team will train this week before breaking off for the Christmas and New Year holidays.