After Tunisia mauling, Simbas eye Namibia in Gold Cup

Kenya’s Simbas are one step away from a ticket to the Rugby 15s World Cup, with Namibia the only hurdle remaining in the ongoing Africa Gold Cup.

Kenya registered her fourth consecutive win in four games on Saturday thrashing Tunisia 67-0, stressing their intention to conquer Africa in the match.

The Ian Snook coached side tackles Namibia Welwitschias, eyeing the elusive Japan 2019 ticket that assistant coach Dominique Habimana says is the main focus of his charges.

“We have been doing well but going to the climax we miss out narrowly. We are working on how to fix some errors noticed this week ahead of the Namibia game.

“We wan’t to qualify for Japan, the team is really yearning for that ticket, to not only represent Kenya but Africa,” observed the Habimana.

Rivals Namibia on the other hand were on a break ahead of Saturday’s grand finale, having played four matches prior to clash in Windhoek.

They lead the six-team log with 20 points as Kenya closely follows in second with 17 points.

However, in Windhoek, Kenya must beat Namibia with a bonus point to earn the sole ticket to Japan as Africa number one.

A bonus point in the ongoing Africa Gold Cup is earned by a win of at least three clear tries against the opponents.

The runners-up of the Kenya Namibia tie, will head to a global competition in France during the November test window for the last chance to qualify for the 2019 rugby World Cup.

The test will be even harder with the unpredictable Canada, big boys Germany and the fast rising Hong Kong also fighting for the last ticket to Japan.

Zimbabwe, Morocco and Tunisia on the same breath are all fighting relegation from the Africa Gold Cup top tier.

Tunisia who lead the relegation zone with four point’s will host neighbors Morocco in their last game of the tournament.

Tunisia coach Jaco Stouman in an exclusive interview with the Citizen Digital team, said he picked positives from his side despite losing 0-67 to Kenya and was optimistic all will go well.

“My players have showed something positive despite losing to Kenya. We are a developing side compared to Kenya which is a well established team. We need to take this experience, go work on our areas of weaknesses and come back stronger next year. Before that, we have to work hard in the next few days and be ready for Morocco to avoid relegation,” offered Stouman.

Zimbabwe will try and pull a surprise win when they travel to Uganda who are third with 9 points.

Africa Gold Cup Standings

1. Namibia 20
2. Kenya 17
3. Uganda 9
4. Tunisia 4
5. Morocco 3
6. Zimbabwe 3

August 18– last round fixtures

Uganda vs Zimbabwe

Namibia vs Kenya

Tunisia vs Morocco