Safaricom Safari Sevens to improve Kenya’s form ahead of Gold Coast IRB leg

Nairobi; Kenya: The participation of Kenyan teams in the Safaricom Sevens in Kasarani on September 26-28 will improve players' confidence ahead of next month's International Rugby Board Series kick off.

National Sevens Team deputy coach Felix Ochieng' said the tournament is a good platform for players to put their heads together as they aim to get selected into the National Sevens Team.

The IRB Series starts with the Gold Cost Sevens in Australia from October 11-12 at the Cbus Super Stadium.

"This is a good platform for players to put their heads up for selection into the national team in order to gain more experience to compete well against established and experienced rugby countries," he said.

He hinted they will announce two formidable squads for the Safaricom Safari Sevens on Monday once National Sevens coach Paul Treu arrives back from the United Kingdom.

"Our selection criteria for the two teams would be different from last year's. We intend to come up with strong squads capable of competing effectively at the IRB series," he told FeverPitch.

Kenya is expected to field the Shujaa and Morans at the Safaricom Sevens Championships, which has also attracted some IRB teams and players across the globe.

South African sides Western Province, Sharks, Golden Lions and Boland Cavaliers have confirmed participation in the tournament. Others are New Zealand's Auckland Metro, Australia Icons.

Argentina, Spain, Germany, Samurai, United Kingdom's The Wailers, British Students Select, The Stormers, The Sharks, Welsh Warriors and Uganda while Kenya will field The Shujaa and The Morans.

So far The National Sevens Team has no serious injuries from her regular participants at the IRB Circuit.

"We do not have any serious injuries that could hamper our participation at the Safaricom Safari Sevens as we plan to select a team for the Gold Coast Sevens," said the deputy coach.

Kenya is drawn in Pool B with South Africa, Wales and American Samoa. Pool A has New Zealand, Samoa, France and Japan with Pool C having Fiji, Australia, Scotland and Portugal while Pool D having England, Canada, Argentina and USA. Ochieng' said they have to improve on their performance at the IRB Circuit and finish among the four top teams as opposed to last year when they finished seventh.

"We are aiming to be among the top four finishers this time round in the IRB series," he stated.

With regard to teams in this circuit, Ochieng' said: "Every team here is strong and you cannot afford to underrate any of them and one will do it at his own peril".

Meanwhile, the coach said Kenya has the capacity to host an IRB tournament but regretted the rigorous selection process. "The process of selecting a hosting country is competitive and one must abide by the stringent IRB rules that requires excellent facilities," he said.

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