The Punter
6 July 2009
column
Nairobi — Kenya's 15-a-side rugby team arrived in Morocco on Monday afternoon and promptly started final preparations for their Africa Rugby Confederation Trophy match against Senegal. Coach Michael "Tank" Otieno, however, admitted that playing away in Morocco would not be easy.
"We have no clue about Senegal, although we have played Morocco and Cameroon. It is a very dangerous position to be in. From the snippets of information we had from our seven-a-side team who played them in Tunisia and Tangier, Senagal have some players plying their trade in Europe and cannot be taken lightly," Otieno added.
Kenya has never beaten Morocco away, having recorded a narrow 28-24 win against the North Africans in Nairobi and lost 10-22 away in the now re-named Africa Trophy.
The coach added that Kenya's position in the IRB rankings would improve with a good performance in Morocco. The target is for Kenya to climb to the 25th position currently occupied by Namibia. Kenya is 39th, Morocco 33rd and Tunisia 28th.
Innocent Simiyu, the 15s captain, added the team was ready.
"You cannot plant maize and harvest apples," he noted in reference to the team's preparations by playing against local club sides. "The challenge is to play to our full potential and raise the level of play a notch higher."
Reversed role
Simiyu will be having a reversed role where he will be in charge as opposed to having to listen to his younger brother Nato, who is his captain at Impala Club RFC.
The absence of several sevens players would not be a factor, Simiyu noted.
"It gives other players a chance to showcase their talent on a bigger stage and this is a good blend of experienced and youthful players," he explained.
The biggest challenge for the 15s would be to emulate Kenya's current success in the IRB Sevens World Series, Safari Sevens and JWRT. The team played three build-up matches against Impala, KCB and Kenya Harlequin.
Michael Aung, who is expected to be in the thick of things upfront, noted that Kenya would have to be quick off the starting blocks.
"We can sustain the pressure to the end but we have always had a slow start and play catch-up, which has to change in Morocco," the Nondescripts forward said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
