Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera has hailed the character of his charges after coming back from a 17-point deficit to beat Eastern Province Elephants 41-24 in their final Currie Cup match over the weekend.
The tactician said Simbas' third win of the competition sets the team up nicely for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal showdown against Uganda Cranes on July 2 in Marseille, France.
Odera said a halftime pep talk with the boys did the trick in an entertaining, sold-out encounter at the RFUEA grounds.
"We hardly had possession in the first quarter and the few times we got the ball, we scored two tries. I told the boys to maintain possession and territory and you saw how composed we were in the second half as we dictated play,” said Odera.
The former international said it will be a tough challenge picking the 28 players for the qualifiers with several putting their hands up for selection after impressive performances in the Currie Cup campaign.
“It will be a headache, a good one for any coach, to have quality in every position. We would have loved to pick 30 players but World Rugby have said we can only have 28 for the event,” added Odera.
The former Kenya under 20 and Strathmore Leos coach hailed the returning Kenya sevens top try scorer Collins Injera, who started on the wing.
"Collins still has the rugby brain him. He makes good decisions and you saw that he scored a try and set up another. He did well,” Odera observed.
He added that the Simbas have two weeks of polishing up on the lineout and scrum before jetting out for France.
The Simbas outscored the Elephants by six tries to four. Vincent Onyala scored a brace with Collins Injera, Malcolm Onsando and Darwin Mukidza touching down once each.
Flyhalf Dominic Coulson added a penalty and two conversions with Mukidza and Andrew Matoka adding a conversion. The Simbas trailed 24-13 at the interval.
