Shujaa will open their campaign against powerhouses South Africa today at the Dubai Sevens.
Kenya will then complete their pool fixtures tomorrow against England (12:26 pm) and wind up their preliminary pool matches against Spain at 6:32 pm.
Paul Feeney's charges will be seeking an improvement from last season where they survived relegation by a whisker in the final tournament in Paris.
This time round a confident Kenya outfit has had an extensive pre-season which culminated in them winning the Africa Cup Sevens in South Africa and qualifying for the Olympic Games next year and winning the Safari sevens after beating South Africa 19-7 in the final at the RFUEA ground.
Kenya and South Africa clashed twice last season with the Blitzbokke winning both encounters 29-10 in Cape Town and 29-12 in Paris.
The Blitzbokke have recalled some of their big guns from the longer version of the game including Seabelo Sentala, Rosco Specman and Ruhan Nel to compliment the talents of playmaker Cecil Africa, skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi, Selvyn Davids and Justin Gelduld.
Kenya on their part will rely on skipper Andrew Amonde, Jeffrey Oluoch, Johnstone Olindi, Jacob Ojee and Billy Odhiambo. The team arrived in Dubai on Sunday and have had three days of light training which included the Captain's Run yesterday.
Head coach cum technical director Paul Feeney termed the pool tough but said the team is well prepared for the tournament. “It's a tough based on how we played last season. We are ready for the two of the top five teams in the world and there are no easy teams. We are relishing the challenge,” added Feeney.
He said they are targetting a quarterfinal berth in Dubai and Cape Town irrespective of the pooling. “Sevens is very unpredictable. The bounce of the ball; a yellow card here and there can change the outcome of the game but I am confident the boys can deliver” added Feeney
Skipper Andrew Amonde said the spirit and mood in the team was good and they were looking to a good season ahead,” he said, adding: "Our preparations have been good and now it's up to us to execute on the pitch tomorrow starting against South Africa'"
The Kenya Lionesses will also be in action in the Dubai invitational tournament starting today.
