Impala Saracens lock Eric Kerre has been ruled out of the Enterprise Cup final after sustaining a shoulder injury.
The Kenya Simbas' utility forward was injured in a narrow 11-10 win over KCB in the Enterprise Cup final and will not play in the oldest cup competition in the country at the RFUEA ground on May 25.
Impala head coach Frank Ndong, however, expects to have Kenya Sevens flyhalf Sammy Oliech, centre Anthony Nyandigisi, lock Shem Joseph, flanker Joel Omer, and prop Soita Wekesa available for the final.
The five missed the win over the bankers due to various reasons. Oliech and Nyandigisi had soft issues injuries sustained from the Ngong Road derby against Quins last weekend while Wekesa and Omer had personal commitments as Joseph had suffered a concussion.
Ndong said with the final three weeks away, it provides the team with an opportunity to prepare adequately. “We will be fresh and It's good for the team as it will give us time to improve on areas where we are weak and improve in some facets of play,” added Ndong.
Ndong said the team may look for a friendly match against either Nondies, Homeboyz or Strathmore Leos ahead of the final.
“ We don't want to be rusty because if you don't play for that long you can come unstuck so getting a game under our belt will be ideal preparation to test our systems,” added Ndong
The Sarries have struggled to beat the sugar millers since Kabras got promoted to the top flight in 2015, winning only two out of eight fixtures and Ndong expects a tough final.
"We must match their big forwards up-front and play to our strengths and be clinical in attack and defence,” he added
Ndong said his focus now switches to the Eric Shirley Shield semifinal against champions KCB II this weekend in Ruaraka.
It's a huge game we lost buy big margin to them in the group phase so our defence must be spot on on Saturday.” added Ndong
