{"id":27900,"date":"2021-05-17T18:21:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T18:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?p=27900"},"modified":"2021-05-17T18:21:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T18:21:46","slug":"innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down","title":{"rendered":"Innocent Simiyu: We are ready for Olympics scrum down"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is confident Shujaa will be ready for the Tokyo Olympics when the global games begin on July 23.<\/p>\n

Speaking after guiding the national\u00a0rugby\u00a0Sevens team to a second-place finish at the two-week Rugby Africa Solidarity Camp mini-friendly tournaments in South Africa, Simiyu is optimistic the team would have worked out all their errors and team chemistry before heading to Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happy with the performance of the team so far in the last three pre-Olympic invitational tournaments. Getting match fitness has been our key agenda especially after a long layoff due to Covid-19 pandemic,\u201d said Simiyu.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe need to tick all the vital boxes; breakdown, tackle completion and kick\u00a0off\u00a0receipt. We have been having a challenge with these areas and we aim at improving on them.”<\/p>\n

Shujaa finished second at the\u00a0Rugby\u00a0Africa Solidarity Sevens second leg tournament that ended on Sunday at Mark\u00f6tter Stadium, Stellenbosch in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Shujaa, who were using the tournament as part of their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games, lost 31-5 to South Africa 1 in the final of the two-day event.<\/p>\n

This was Kenya\u2019s fourth consecutive loss against the\u00a0Blitzboks in the tournament.<\/p>\n

The coach said their focus turns to their last pre-Olympic tournament in USA next month.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>
Shujaa’s Billy Odhiambo (far right) in action during Rugby Africa Solidarity Camp in South Africa.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Tokyo Olympic Games quickly approaching, Quest for Gold Sevens\u00a0has confirmed international men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams to compete in an exhibition tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles from June 25-26.<\/p>\n

Kenya will start preparations earlier next month ahead of the Quest for Gold 7s. USA, Argentina, Samoa and Korea have confirmed participation in the event<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, we need to go back home and continue with Olympic Games journey and hopefully by the time we get to Los Angeles, we will be able to tick more boxes and be in a position where we can perform well at the Olympic games,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the government support, we need to keep working hard and improving our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

KCB winger Jacob Ojee is the only player doubtful for the US tournament after he picked up a left leg injury in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the national women\u2019s Sevens team, Kenya Lionesses, have also confirmed participation in the US pre-Olympic tourney.<\/p>\n

With a majority of the participating teams being regulars on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the exhibition sets a perfect stage for pre-Olympic trials ahead of the Tokyo Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is confident Shujaa will be ready for the Tokyo Olympics when the global games begin on July 23. Speaking after guiding the national\u00a0rugby\u00a0Sevens team to a second-place finish at the two-week Rugby Africa Solidarity Camp mini-friendly tournaments in South Africa, Simiyu is optimistic the team would have worked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[3635,272],"class_list":["post-27900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-olympics","tag-tokyo-olympics"],"yoast_head":"\nInnocent Simiyu: We are ready for Olympics scrum down - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is confident Shujaa will be ready for the Tokyo Olympics when the global games begin on July 23.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Innocent Simiyu: We are ready for Olympics scrum down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is confident Shujaa will be ready for the Tokyo Olympics when the global games begin on July 23.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-17T18:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/05\/wlszisfmtyxgxg6edw60a1554858a9b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"557\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Innocent Simiyu: We are ready for Olympics scrum down\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-17T18:21:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/05\/wlszisfmtyxgxg6edw60a1554858a9b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Olympics\",\"tokyo olympics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sport\/innocent-simiyu-we-are-ready-for-olympics-scrum-down\",\"name\":\"Innocent Simiyu: We are ready for Olympics scrum down - 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