National Rugby Sevens teams, Shujaa and Lionesses, will miss the Los Angeles Sevens slated for this weekend in the United States of America.
Sources close to the Ministry of Sports indicated that the government is giving priority to teams seeking qualification to the Tokyo Olympics rather than build-up matches for already qualified teams barely a month to the Olympics.
Both sides were to use the tournament as a final build-up to the Games having participated in three more tournaments in Madrid, Dubai and Stellenbosch, South Africa in the last four months.
Kenya were due to play hosts USA , Great Britain and South Korea in the two-day event. Efforts to get a comment from Kenya Rugby Union chairman Oduor Gangla proved futile.
The two teams will continue training in a bubble environment at Moi Stadium, Kasarani for the next fortnight before departure to Kurume City next month.
Meanwhile, head coach Innocent Simiyu said preparations for the Tokyo Games are on course.
"All the boys are looking sharp, ticking the right boxes. When it comes to injuries, we only have one player injured, Jacob Ojee but he has been going for his physiotherapy sessions to ensure he makes a full recovery," said Simiyu.
“We are happy with how the boys have responded to the plans around kickoff, breakdowns and game tactics.”
Simiyu’s counterpart Felix Olo, added: “We have been working on our kickoffs since this a key area. There are different types of kickoffs and we have had scenarios where we’re working on all of them,” said Oloo.
The Lionesses had a number of players who were in rehab during their last camp and Oloo is happy with the progress made with time.
“There’s a notable improvement in their recovery and that has been very encouraging to the team,” he concluded.
