NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – The national women’s sevens team will shift to a residential training camp in Mombasa for acclimatization ahead of the Rugby Afrique World Cup qualifiers to be held in Tunisia from September 16.
Head coach Kevin Wambua says they will be looking to firm up a few technical areas of their play with the focus fixed on earning a slot to next year’s Rugby World Cup.
“Heading to Tunisia, our minimum target is to win the African Cup and that definitely gives us a ticket to the World Cup. That is what we are aiming at. We are in a favorable group and I think it is one we can get out of. No offense to any team there but I think we are strong,” Wambua told Capital Sport.
“We have been in non-residential training camp for 10 weeks and now we go to residential training in Mombasa to acclimatize, firm up a few of our technical areas and bond as a team before heading out to Tunisia next week,” he added.
Kenya has been seeded second for the qualifiers and headline Pool B, battling out with Zimbabwe, Senegal and Madagascar. Favorites South Africa are the top seeds for the tournament and will lead Pool A, competing with Uganda, Tunisia and Morocco.
The winner of the tournament will represent Africa at the World Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco in July while the losing finalist will have a qualification opportunity for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold, Coast, Australia.
Wambua is confident that they can handle the competition that will be posed by South Africa, noting they have improved vastly since their last meeting in 2016 which ended in a five-point loss for the Kenyans.
“We are not the same place where we were last season and looking at how the girls have worked in training, we have made some good strides in improving. We just need to work a bit on our breakdowns and line of defense and we will be good to go,” the coach further said.
He is expected to name his final travelling party after the Mombasa camp which closes on Sunday and the tactician has promised a strong squad, with a fine blend of youth and experience.
“Expect to see new faces because there are young players who have worked hard and put their hands up for selection. They have stepped up their game and we will give everyone a chance basing on how they have performed in training,” Wambua noted.
Kenya Lionesses team for Mombasa
Catherine Abilla, Celestine Masinde, Camila Cynthia, Doreen Remour, Diana Awino, Grace Odhiambo, Janet Okello, Janet Owino, Judith Auma, Linet Moraa, Philadelphia Olando, Rachael Mbogo, Sophie Ayieta, Sinaida Aura, Stacy Awuor, Sheila Chajira.
