Shujaa turns attention to Sevens World Cup

Kenya Rugby Sevens head coach Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu says they will leave no room for mistakes ahead of the Sevens World Cup set for July 20-22 in San Francisco Bay, USA.

Speaking in Nairobi upon the team’s return after a dismal performance at the Paris Sevens in France,  Simiyu said that the team will take a ten-day rest before embarking on the World Cup preparations.

“We will rest for 10 days giving the players time to socialize with their families and friends before resuming camp on Thursday next week to prepare for the Sevens World Cup.”

According to Simiyu, the team will have to sharpen its skills and conditioning ahead of the looming test.

In the new rugby format Kenya will face Tonga, a non-core team and the winner will play against Scotland in the pre round of 16.

Simiyu added that they have to take each game seriously from day one,  comparing Tonga’s game to that of Samoa.

“As you saw them in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, they played a very physical game just like Samoa, but I think the pace used in the World Series might be higher than theirs which is a plus to us,” explained Simiyu.

“We will try to contain the physicality of Tonga and make sure our players don’t get injured in the process,”he added.

“At the moment we have two injuries which were unnecessary, but I think the players will be okay before we resume training.”

The former Shujaa player lauded his players’ performance after the conclusion of HSBC World Rugby Series after hitting their target of 100 points.

“We were in a difficult pool in Paris but we managed two wins so that’s a better performance although we fell on points difference.”

Shujaa collected three points in the last round of World Series in Paris where they managed a 13th place finish.