Kenya Sevens' head coach Paul Feeney is not fazed by Shujaa's poor performance at the Sydney Sevens a week ago.
Feeney said his focus is now on Kenya winning medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July. "I'm not perturbed by poor showing in Sydney. You will have some bad days in the office at times but the key is to ensure we are in peak condition come Tokyo, where we hope to bag a medal of any colour,” added Feeney.
He said he is pleased with the performance of the team in the past two tournaments and happy with where the team is headed.
"We played New Zealand and Fiji —two of the best in the world right now and both won the overall tournaments . We are therefore, headed in the right direction in terms of performance,” added Feeney.
He welcomed the pooling for L0s Angeles, where Shujaa will face South Africa, Ireland and Canada. “It's a favourable pool. We have beaten South Africa recently; we drew with Ireland in Cape Town but we are yet to play Canada. It's a wide open pool and we have a chance,” the coach added.
Feeney said with the short time remaining before their departure to North America, the emphasis will be on kickoff, reception, defensive alignment and tackling technique.
“We have work to do in several aspects of our game which we must correct and I know the boys will respond in the next two events and do the country proud,” he added.
The tactician has asked stakeholders to be patient as they navigate World Sevens Series. "Every team will make mistakes. It's how you respond that matters but generally, the series is competitive and there are no easy teams.”
Shujaa lie 11th on the log with 26 points from four tournaments. The squad resume training today and the final team for the North American leg will be named on February 20 before departing on February 22.
Elsewhere, Mombasa, Kakamega and Nakuru were confirmed by the Kenya Rugby Union as venues for three of the Simbas'test matches in 2020.
Mombasa will play host to the Africa Cup fixture between Kenya and Morocco on May 30 before Kakamega hosts the Victoria Cup clash between Kenya and Uganda which also doubles up as an Elgon Cup fixture on July 11.
Nakuru will then host the Victoria Cup fixture between Kenya and Zimbabwe on July 18.
