Kenya Simbas head coach has noted three areas for improvement ahead of the Rugby World Cup repechage slated for Dubai in November.
The former skipper said kick-chase, tactical awareness and defence will be vital for the next one and half months as they target qualification for the Rugby World Cup in France next year .
“From our review, we realised our kick-chase pattern was not good especially against Namibia in the final (of the Africa Cup), as well as tactical awareness. Knowing what to do when you get in the opposition half in both attack and execution must improve and so is our defence pattern,” added Odera.
The Simbas face USA, Portugal and Hong Kong at the repechage and Odera said he expects a touger outing that at the African qualifiers played in France in July.
“We are meeting higher ranked opposition and we are going to be tested accordingly. We must get our preparations right in all aspects of our play to qualify for the World Cup," he added
The Simbas lost 36-0 to Namibia in the African qualifiers final and Odera believes the score line was not a reflection of the team's performance on the day.
"I believe we held on our own for the first twenty minutes and were competitive. I am confident that if we can rectify our mistakes in both attack and possession, then we have a chance,” he observed.
"Fitness will be key for the side having been out for the last two months due to various factors including last month's general elections."
The good thing is that we have a good foundation from October last year when we went to South Africa and participated in the Currie Cup and the World Cup qualifiers. We’ve had a consistent team, so we are starting from a good base,” he added.
Odera is hopeful they will play a couple of warm-up fixtures before the repechage.
Unfortunately, Kabras winger Derrick Ashiundu and Nondies prop Ian Njenga are recuperating after long-time injuries and will not be involved for the repechage.
