The Kenya Under 20 squad have called up six new players as preparations intensify ahead of next month's Junior Rugby World trophy tournament at Nyayo Stadium.
Ian Nyandusi, Anthony Okoyo, Rodgers Omanyi, Nickson Sheiva, Victor Wabuto and Spencer Tayghan have joined the 39-man training squad which has been in non-residential training for the last month.
Team manager Peter Mutai said competition for a slot in the final squad is very high, with the team set to be reduced to 28 in a fortnight.
"I love the drive and optimism in training. The boys are determined to don the jersey. We still have a month to finalise our training and the squad will become clearer,” added Mutai.
Mutai said the team is focusing on conditioning and defence after losing 28-7 to Zimbabwe in the Barthes Cup final in April.
“We are improving the two facets of play which we feel were exposed by Zimbabwe. If the boys get more strength and improve our first time tackling, then we will be very competitive at the global tournament,” added Mutai.
He added that they will have some build-up matches against club or university sides in the next couple of weeks.
“We are looking at playing KCB or Strathmore depending on their schedule... just to get the boys some game time under their belt and to see if our strategies and systems are working,” added Mutai.
The side known as Chipu face Samoa, Spain and Hong Kong in Pool 'B'.
This will be Kenya's third appearance in the tournament after 2009 (debut) and 2019.
Elsewhere, Kenya Lionesses have climbed two places to position 23 on the latest World Rugby rankings after finishing second at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Antananarivo, Madagascar last week.
This is the Lionesses' highest-ever ranking, having headed to the week-long Antananarivo competition ranked 25th globally.
The Lionesses have 47.41 ranking points and remain second in Africa behind South Africa, who sit 13th in the world on 66.15 points.
