Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera rued the errors at key times as his charges lost 36-0 to Namibia in the Africa qualifier final in Marseille on Sunday
Despite a brave start by the Simbas, poor kicking, missed tackles and lack of go-forward ball by the forwards saw the Simbas well beaten by the Namibians, who qualified for a seventh straight World Cup.
Odera said the loss was painful. “We played well for the first 20 minutes. Our defensive structure was good and we were playing in the right areas of the field. However, we made errors at crucial times. We missed tackles, missed kicks to touch and had handling errors which were all punished by a clinical team,” said Odera.
The Simbas will now regroup and plan for the repechage tournament in November where they face Portugal, Tonga or Hong Kong and Chile or USA.
The winner of the four-team tournament will slot into Pool 'C' at the World CUp in France.
This will be the Simbas' second appearance at the repechage having played there in 2018 — where they lost all their three matches to Hong Kong , Germany, and eventual winners Canada in France.
Odera said preparations for the repechage must start immediately.
“For the next qualifier, our plans must start quickly and it will be dependent on the finances we get from well-wishers and the union,” noted Odera.
Skipper Dan Sikuta, who cut a forlorn figure at the end of the match, said: "We failed to execute especially on attack. We did not put Namibia under pressure. The boys played hard but we lacked moments of quality especially when we had possession.”
This was the Simbas' 12th defeat against Namibia and seventh in a row since 2014. Namibia will slot into Pool 'A' of the World Cup in France where they face hosts France, three-time champions New Zealand, Uruguay and Italy.
Algeria finished third after stunning Zimbabwe 20-12 while Uganda finished fifth after edging Ivory Coast 18-17. Senegal beat Burkina Faso 44-30.
