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Kenya Simbas angling to beat rival Uganda Cranes at quarter-finals ahead of 2023 World Cup in France

Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 05:52 | By
Kenya Simbas players celebrate their victory against Zambia during their Rugby Africa Cup match at the Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi on July 11, 2021. PHOTO/Courtesy

The Kenya Simbas are gearing to set the right tempo for their bid to knockout three rivals starting with Uganda Cranes at the quarterfinals stage of the Africa Cup.

This will be the qualification tournament for the France 2023 Rugby World Cup in Marseille, France. The 8 team-competition was kickstarted by the continental defending champions Burkina Faso on Friday.

Two quarterfinal matches have been played and two semifinalists have already been confirmed. Kenya and Uganda will renew their rivalry in a knockout competition set to produce the third semifinalist who will then face the winner between Algeria and Senegal.

Defending champion Namibia could renew its rivalry with Zimbabwe in the first semifinal. Simbas head coach Paul Odera told Wikendi Sport the team is aware of how to execute a game plan that will yield a win against an opponent he respects.

“It will be foolish to dismiss Uganda at the moment because they have done all they needed to do quietly using all their resources they have; I know both our fans are emotional but I need to be level-headed and approach the games with respect,

 “We understand Uganda’s mindset and how they approach the Kenyan games, we have done our analysis, the boys have done their homework and we know what to do. We take this match very seriously because if we lose, we are out and there’s a bit of team pressure because this is not like playing against a club side,” he said.

All the matches will be played at the Stade Pierre-Delort in Marseille, France where the hosts will use the event to prepare for the France 2023 Rugby World Cup that will be hosted across nine venues in France.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Rugby Union chairman has called out to the Kenyan fans residing in Europe and other areas to turn up and support the Simbas.

Simbas will be rocking their new shirt sponsored by Hildana Lodge who came to the rescue of the team that was appealing to Kenyans to help raise Sh 10 million. The new sponsor coughed up the Sh 10 million to save the day when the team had not even hit a million shillings in the fundraiser.

“K24 TV and K24 Plus app will be airing the matches live. We will have die-hard fans travel to support the team, we also have a big following in France and other European countries including Germany and the United Kingdom, please come and support the Simbas, our 15s rugby will never be the same again.” KRU chairman Gangla Oduor.

Simbas have already acclimatized and will give Uganda a hard time because of this, only conversions and penalties could be on point for Uganda Cranes because their kickers are well trained.

The national 15-a-side team went to South Africa for one month in preparation for their final two fixtures on home soil in a joint venture between Kenya and South Africa Rugby Union courtesy of Direct Sports Management.

Kenya Simbas staged a fantastic comeback to upset South Africa’s top side the Elephants 41-24 in a Currie Cup Division 1 match hosted at the RFUEA Grounds early last month.

Trailing 0-17 after just fifteen minutes, and in what had looked like was going to be a tough encounter for the home team, the Paul Odera-coached side showed mentality, resolve, and utmost grit to clinch a 41-24 victory at full-time.

The Elephants had made a super quick start o¡ the blocks as they maximized on their superiority o¡ the lineout. Inside the opening five minutes, Johanees Huisamen had already scored their first try after a determined attack that resulted from a powerful maul from the South African outfit.

Another infringement from a rolling maul saw Simbas reduced to fourteen men as Malcom Onsando was yellow-carded in the 11th minute.

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