Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera was pleased with the progress his side is making after a narrow 21-15 defeat to Kabras on Sunday at the RFUEA grounds in a warm-up match ahead of the World Cup qualifiers slated for next month.
The tactician said with only two weeks to the opening match against Senegal, the side is at 40 per cent match ready and hopes to upscale to 60 per cent by the time they play the West Africans on July 3 at the RFUEA ground.
"We are making progress bit by bit. The training period has been short but we have to make do with the training period in order for us to be ready for the two matches against Zambia and Senegal,” added Odera
Odera said his charges cannot underrate their opponents in the qualifiers.
"Every team wants to go to the World Cup. They have prepared well and we must be at our best to qualify for the final round of qualifiers next year,” noted Odera.
Brian Juma opened the scoring for the Simbas early in the match before Kabras flyhalf Ntabeni Dukisa kicked over a penalty to reduce the deficit to 5-3. Kabras piled on the pressure and were rewarded with a try just before the interval, courtesy of Derrick Ashiundu for an 8-5 lead.
On resumption, prop Patrick Ouko and centre John Okoth scored a quickfire double to widen the Simbas lead to 15-8 but the visitors finished strongly with Ashiundu and Felix Ayange scoring a try each with Dukisa adding a penalty.
Odera said the 43-man squad will be whittled down to 30 by the time the team face Senegal in a fortnight.
"Competition for places in the squad is intense and we will pick the strongest team," said Odera.
The team has had three training camps with strict adherence to the Covid-19 protocols and will continue to be held in a closed stadium without fans as per the Ministry of Sports guidelines. Additionally, all the players and technical team members going into the camp have had their Covid-19 tests done.
Elsewhere, KCB thrashed Nondies 32-8 as the Kenya Cup resumed after a two-month break.
In other results, Strathmore Leos came from behind to draw 20-20 with Quins as Oilers beat MMUST 24-10 while Mwamba came way with a 25-15 victory over Nakuru RFC at the latter's backyard.
