Kick-off and defence are the two areas Kenya Lionesses head coach Felix Oloo will be looking to improve when the side plays at the Madrid Sevens next week.
Oloo said the two facets of play are a work in progress and will be tested when they meet fellow Olympic-bound teams in the two-weekend event (February 20-21 and February 27-28) extravaganza.
"Our kickoffs and defence will be tested by strong opposition and I want to see how we will cope. We have not played in a competitive tournament for close to a year,” said Oloo.
The Nakuru RFC coach said the team will not be going to make up the numbers in Madrid.
"The team has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two seasons and we want to give it our all and help us create a platform to perform well at the Tokyo Olympics in July,” added Oloo.
Oloo said the team has had 34 sessions since November and it was time to put training into practice with the two events in Madrid.
"The game situation really helps and we are relishing the challenge of competing and put into practice what we have learnt,” he added.
Skipper Philadelphia Olando said the team is a blend of youth and experience with notable inclusion being Naomi Amugani, who has been handed a debut call up, while Sarah Oluche and Ann Goreti return.
"The new players have brought competition to the squad and we, the senior players, have had to raise our game which is healthy for the team,” said Olando.
The team is expected to depart on Sunday for Spain and return at the end of the month
The Inter-Region tournament is being hosted by the Federación Española de Rugby (FER) and supported by World Rugby and will feature up to 24 teams (12 men’s and 12 women’s).