Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu believes there is room for improvement ahead of the Dubai Invitational Sevens International tournament later this month.
Speaking after the Shujaa Sevens' arrival from Madrid Sevens on Tuesday, the former skipper said he was encouraged by the performance after a year-long absence from rugby action due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All things considered, I think the team did well. We have been out for a year and getting to the final in consecutive weekends was a step in the right direction,” added Simiyu.
In the 12 matches played in the Spanish capital, Shujaa won six matches and lost five. They edged Portugal twice (26-12,36-5); beat Spain (19-5 , 19-17) overcame USA 36-5 and Chile 15-5 and lost four times to Argentina (21-14, 21-7, 36-19, 45-7) as well as USA 29-12
Simiyu said they have three areas to address before the Dubai tournament thus including discipline, kicking restarts and defence. "Argentina exploited on our discipline as we were reduced to six men. Our defence needs to improve especially the one-on-one tackles and also our restarts," added Simiyu.
He also noted that the attack can be sharper with better decision making by the players. Skipper Andrew Amonde has recovered from illness and should resume training with the rest of the squad next week .
Shujaa and Lionesses are expected to enter a bubble camp organised by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) at Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani this week as they step up preps for the Tokyo Olympics.
Apart from Dubai, Shujaa is lined up for another invitational tournament in South Africa and France in May before heading to Tokyo for the Olympics in July.
