Kenya Sevens’ co-captain George ‘Japolo’ Ooro said the team will relish the underdog tag in the opening leg of the World Sevens Series in Dubai this weekend.
Shujaa, who return to the World Sevens Series after a one year hiatus, are in a tough Pool ‘A’ alongside Olympic champions France, bronze medallists South Africa and Australia.
Ooro, who captained the side in retaining the Safari Sevens last month, believes they can upset the big teams.
“We are the fourth-placed team in the pool and people are writing us off. However, the boys are aware that we have not come here to make up the numbers. We will be competitive and we want to amass as many points as possible,” Ooro said.
The 13-man squad arrived in Dubai on Tuesday and have been training since in preparation for the tournament.
Ooro is one of three survivors from the team relegated in 2022, alongside Dennis Abukuse and Kevin Wekesa, thus the only Kenyan players with Sevens Series experience.
“There are eight new faces in the team and we have been guiding them. We have told them that they have nothing to fear as long as they get the basics right,” he said.
Ooro lauded mobile telecommunications giant Safaricom for their sponsorship earlier in the month.
Through M-Pesa, the telecommunications giant have committed Sh100m for Shujaa and Lionesses over the next two years.
“We are delighted to have M-Pesa come on board. Player welfare is key as it enables us to concentrate on the game and focus on making the country proud,” Ooro said.
Assistant coach Louis Kisia said they have new tactical plays that will be used in the course of the tournament.
“There are some secret playing patterns we will unleash this weekend,” Kisia said.
Kenya open their campaign against France at 9:50 am on Saturday, face South Africa at 1:58 pm and Australia at 7:22 pm.
The
knockout phase of the tournament will be played on Sunday.
