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Malaga will be competitive, says Namcos

Monday, December 6th, 2021 07:11 | By

Kenya rugby sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu was impressed by Shujaa’s sixth-place fi in Dubai but predicts another tough outing in Malaga on January 23-24 when the 2021/22 HSBC World Sevens series resumes in Spain.

Kenya is placed eight, two points behind Great Britain and just a point behind Fiji and France, who are placed sixth and seventh respectively.


“We are happy with the boys’ effort in Dubai, but we still believe we have a lot of work to be done before the next tournament. Malaga will also be a competitive pool, and it’s upon us to prepare.


It’s a long season and our focus is to improve on our execution so that
we can meet our performance standards and not rotation. We will look at calling up more players for assessment,” said Simiyu.

Commenting on a most impressive debut by Kevin Wekesa, Simiyu said his work ethic is what Shujaa is looking for.

“Wekesa had 1.49 game versus South Africa where he retrieved kick-offs, turnovered a ruck ball, scrummaged correctly and passed well and that is the work ethic is what we are looking for,” he added.


Shujaa’s sixth place in the second Dubai competition was a two points improvement from their opener leg at the same venue, the
Sevens Stadium.


Malaga event is made up of 16 teams unlike the opener two legs in Dubai where it was a 12-team competition where Kenya earned quarter-final to qualify thanks to point difference.


Shujaa have been slotted in pool D alongside Wales, France and Canada
Series defending champions and recent back-to-back Dubai champions South Africa are in pool A where returning England, Scotland and Olympics champions Fiji will give their best in the maiden competition in Spain.


In Pool B, Australia will battle Japan, Ireland and returning New Zealand while in Pool C, the hosts will take on the USA, Argentina and returning Samoa.

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