Simiyu confident South African camp will improve Shujaa

Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu says his main target at the 10-day Stellenbosch Solidarity Camp in South Africa is to improve the team’s on-pitch performance, set pieces and getting match fitness for the new players.

According to the former Shujaa captain, the players will have the opportunity to undertake Level 1 sevens refresher training while the management will have a refresher  Level 2 course as they race to be in top shape ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

“Our target is to mark the right boxes on our pitch performance, especially the set pieces which are our key forces in the upcoming camp and getting match fitness for our new players among others,” said Simiyu.

Simiyu has included KCB full back Levy Amunga and Kenya’s top try scorer in the HSBC series Collins Injera in the squad noting that their inclusion is to monitor their progress and see how the other players will play around them.

Willy Ambaka, Dennis Ombachi and Andrew Amonde were left out of the squad with Simiyu saying they are doing rotation to the team so as to have a more concrete squad ahead of the Olympics Games later this year.

Elsewhere Kabras Sugar captain Dan Sikuta says club commitments and failure to get the Covid-19 jab are the major reasons he won’t be making the trip to South Africa with Shujaa.

Head coach Innocent Simiyu named the travelling squad on Tuesday and Sikuta was a glaring omission.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Sikuta said that having been picked to captain Kabras he needed more time with his team mates as they lay ground ahead of the return of Kenyan Cup season, adding that failure to be vaccinated has also played a part in his failure to make the trip down south but will join the squad for the Los Angeles camp.

“I decided to stay with my club after I was appointed Kabras captain in March last year and after the Corona outbreak I had to choose between joining the camp and staying with my players, but I decided to remain with Kabras since it was an individual decision,” said Sikuta.

At the same time the Kenya Sevens lock believes the final squad named by head coach Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu will perform better in S.A as they prepare for the Olympics.

“The team is preparing well and according to their performance in Madrid and Dubai expect better performance in South Africa,” he added.

The team will be co-captained by Vincent Onyala and Jeff Oluoch.

The team will leave for South Africa on Thursday 5 am, with a delegation of 18 members; 14 players and four technical bench members.

Shujaa will face the hosts South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe on 8th/9th and 14th/15th May.

Shujaa squad to Stellenbosch solidarity Camp:

Alvin Otieno, Herman Humwa, Bush Mwale, Harold Anduvate, Vincent Onyala, Jeff Oluoch, Collins Injera, Daniel Taabu, Tony Omondi, Levi Amunga, Billy Odhiambo, Nelson Oyoo, Jacob Ojee, Derrick Keyoga.