Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera has made three changes for the bronze medal match against Brazil in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
There is one positional change that sees Kabras Sugar's Brian Tanga come in at scrumhalf from the wing, replacing Samuel Asati, who drops to the bench while Eprahim Oduor comes at tighthead prop with Patrick Ouko, dropping to the reserves. Strathmore's Andrew Matoka comes into the wing for his first start of the tour. All other positions remain unchanged.
The Simbas will be seeking to bounce back following a 60-24 loss to Namibia last week at the same venue as Zimbabwe edged Brazil 24-22 in the first semifinal.
This will be the third meeting between the Simbas and the South Americans with Kenya having won both clashes... 27-25 during the Emirates Cup tournament in Dubai in 2011 and 18-17 in Macapa, Brazil in a 2016 test match.
Odera expects a physical onslaught from the Brazilians.
"They are big and physical and will be strong at setpieces but we have had a good week to prepare and look what went wrong against Namibia and we are excited about the encounter," said Odera.
"The reason for starting Tanga at scrumhalf is because we’re trying to see if his understanding with flyhalf Jone Kubu can be transferred to the national level. Matoka moving to the wing is good for us because he’s exceptionally quick and has a huge boot so hopefully, he can put it into good positions on the pitch.”
Odera, who has had stints in coaching Kenya Under 20 and Strathmore Leos added that the kick chase and reception will have to be spot on to build pressure on the Brazilians.
Key players for the Kenya squad include skipper Dan Sikuta, Malcolm Onsando, George Nyambua and Eugene Sifuna in the forwards with Kubu, Darwin Mukidza, and Vincent Onyala the pick of the outside backs.
The match will kick off at 1 pm.
The Simbas are using the quadrangular series as preparations for the Rugby World Cup qualifiers slated for July 2022 in France.
