Tunisia in Nairobi for Gold Cup showdown

Tunisia landed in the country on Wednesday night for their Rugby Africa Gold Cup match against the Kenya Simbas set for Saturday. 

Tunisia are out to get their campaign back on track  after a 7-53 home defeat against Namibia, in their last match.

“Irrespective of their relegation we respect them. Never underrate anybody, always respect your opponents.

“We know they (Tunisia) are quite strong upfront. We want to make sure we deny them the ball and spread them wide. We must capitalise on every  advantage we have over them,” said Simba’s team Manager Wangila Simiyu.

Tunisia will be out to post their first ever win in Nairobi against Simbas who have won the last three outings between the two teams.

Altitude will play a key role in the tie, according to the TM who wants to ‘choke the slow-paced Tunisians’.

“Our oxygen here is quite thin for them, they come from a desert country while this is a tropical country.

“We will therefore take advantage and make sure the game is very fast. Definitely they would like to slow it down because that’s their nature of play,”added Wangila.

The clash against Tunisia comes two years after Kenya won 46-15 in Nairobi in 2015 before Tunisia got relegated.

Simbas head coach Jerome Paarwaters is currently in Cape Town, South Africa with the KCB RFC team that is on a ten-day high performance training.

Having played one game in the Gold Cup, Simbas sit fourth on the six-team log after the opening two rounds, playing to a 33-33 home draw against Uganda on June 24.