Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Sevens will be aiming to impress as a shortened World Sevens Series starts in Vancouver, Canada this weekend.
Following an underwhelming performance at last month’s Tokyo Olympics where the team finished ninth, head coach Innocent Simiyu will be hoping his charges can rediscover their winning formula in the Canadian city.
Shujaa will open their campaign with a tricky encounter against Spain at 8:31 pm followed by a tie against invitational side Mexico at 11:42 am. Shujaa will close out their preliminaries with a blockbuster showdown against South Africa at 3:35 am on Sunday.
Simiyu expects a competitive opening day and said his charges will not underestimate anyone.
“Spain are a side on the up and will be tricky to beat .Mexico are an unknown quantity while we are familiar with South Africa. We play them quite often and we know what to expect from them. They are a physical and very formidable side,” said Simiyu.
The squad arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday after a lengthy flight delay in France having left the country on Monday.
They entered a 24-hour quarantine and will have the Captain run today.
Simiyu, a former skipper with the side, said they are in good spirits and raring to go.
“It’s an opportunity that the boys have been waiting for and with more tournaments being lined up, we are happy we can get used to playing quite often,” he said.
Simiyu has in the fold some familiar faces like skipper Nelson Oyoo, Jeffrey Oluoch, Willy Ambaka, Billy Odhiambo and Alvin Otieno, complemented by some inexperienced players like Alvin Marube, Levi Amunga and Timothy Mmatsi.
Simiyu said he will be using the four upcoming tournaments in Vancouver, Edmonton, Dubai (two) as part of their preparations for the Commonwealth Games next year in Birmingham and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town in September.
“We want to expose the new faces to the rigours of Sevens competitions.
Skipper Oyoo said with the team in transition, the experienced players will be out to mentor the young ones.
“As the senior players in the team, our role will be to mentor the new faces and tell them what to expect in the series and what to expect,” said Oyoo.
