Simbas coach Odera says team attained its target
Kenya rugby 15s head coach Paul Odera has revealed the team’s focus and willingness to try new things worked well for them as they finished third in the World Rugby-sanctioned quadrangular tournament in South Africa.
Namibia won the tournament after tossing Zimbabwe 41-10 in the cup final on Saturday afternoon while Kenya finished third courtesy of a hard-fought 36-30 win over Brazil.
Simbas will now wind up their three-week tour of South Africa with a clash against Spanish side, Diables Barcelona, and not South African provincial side, Cheetahs as had been previously announced.
This clash which is part of the Toyota Intercontinental Invitational Series will take place on Thursday. Simbas have been in South Africa since early November and began their tour with a clash against the Currie Cup XV in the Carling Champions match, losing that match at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 84-15 on Saturday.
They would then face Namibia in the Stellenbosch Challenge semi-final on Sunday 14 November in Stellenbosch, going down 60-24 before closing out their campaign with a win over Brazil.
Odera says they had set three targets for the game - pressure, focus and confidence - which they managed to achieve.
World rankings
As a result, Kenya has gained one place in World Rugby rankings released on Monday.
Kenya is now 35th in the world standings after beating a superior ranked Brazil currently sitting 29th.
Despite winning the Stellenboschb challenge, Namibia remained unmoved in position 24 while Zimbabwe dropped to 33rd globally.
