Kenya Under-20 skipper rugby skipper Boniface Ochieng says the team will be targeting two wins in the group stage of the Junior Rugby World Trophy which starts next week in Brazil.
Chipu begin their campaign against Uruguay on July 9 before facing hosts Brazil on July 14. They wind up their preliminary fixtures on July 17 against tournament favourites Japan.
Ochieng expressed confidence that the team can get the two wins to advance to the semifinals.
“It will be a tough competition but the boys have trained well. If we can get wins against the two South American teams, it will put us in a strong position to qualify for the semis of the competition,” added Ochieng.
Ochieng said the players who have been training for the past two months has worked on their weakness including the lineout, discipline as well as kicking.
“In our qualifiers in April, we had a problem with the lineout and we have worked at rectifying the situation as well our discipline. We don't want to give away penalties to our opponents which they can capitalise on," added Ochieng.
Ochieng said they must also be more accurate with their kicking for points and in exit plays. "It's something we have worked on during our sessions as the game at this level can be decided by a point. We must be accurate with our goal-kicking to win matches,” added Ochieng.
Elsewhere, the team has received a major boost of Sh4 million sponsorship from Luxury Hotel operator, Hemingways Collection ahead of the event.
Hemingways Group Operations director Ross Evans said the partnership is part of his company's commitment in supporting and rebuilding rugby in Kenya while marketing it to the rest of the world.
"Hemingways has been a strong supporter of rugby in Kenya since the 1970's when the chairman Dicky Evans joined Nondescript RFC,” he said.
