Head Coach Paul Odera has shared his thoughts after naming the Simbas training squad for the final Rugby World Cup 2023 qualification tournament set for 6-18 November in Dubai.
Speaking to KRU Media, Odera said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for Simbas to start preparations for the Repechage. It’s going to be a harder competition than the World Cup qualifiers in France if it is to be believed, but it will be a lot harder.”
With the Simbas, runners up at the Rugby Africa Cup which served as the African qualifying tournament for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, set to play a round robin tournament against USA, Portugal and Hong Kong for the last slot to the 2023 Rugby World Cup set for France, Odera said, “The teams who are going for this tournament – the USA, Portugal and Hong Kong are similar to Kenya, going with everything at stake.”
“The camp this weekend is an excellent opportunity to have a review on how the Rugby Africa Cup final went in July and draw a line and move forward,” added the former international.
He spoke of the objectives of the team’s first training camp, saying, “It will be important to look at where the players are in terms of their fitness, and then try and build a base from there. The good thing about the session is that we have a good foundation from October last year when we went to South Africa, then participated in the Currie Cup and the World Cup qualifiers. We’ve had a consistent team, so we are starting from a good base.”
“It is exciting times for everyone, both the players and the coaches to see how we can tackle this challenge in November,” he concluded.