Ojee: Kenya will bounce back against Tunisia on Sunday

KENYA VS UGANDA
Outside Half player Kennedy Moseti shield the ball from his Ugandan opponents Asuman Mugerwa, second left, and Team Captain Brian Odong during the Elgon Cup match at Harliquin grounds on Saturday, June 13th, 2015. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO

National 15s rugby winger Jacob Ojee believes Sunday’s Afrique Division 1A Championship match against visiting Tunisia at RFUEA grounds gives them a perfect opportunity to bounce back from their defeat to Zimbabwe.

Kenya got their 2015 continental campaign on a bad note, falling 20-28 to Zimbabwe on June 13 and consequently dropped one place from 29 to 30 in the IRB rankings, one week after Tunisia suffered a 14-22 defeat to Namibia.

Although it will not be a walk in the park for the hosts, the 24-year-old Kenya Commercial Bank winger insists they learnt a lot from the Harare outing, hence they cannot afford to lose another match.

“We both lost in our opening matches and know it is not going to be easy, but as per our preparations and coach’s strategy, I believe we are ready for the Tunisia match,” Ojee said.

“We played well against Zimbabwe, but were left disappointed with the results because I think we ought to have won that game.

It was a 50-50 game, a few mistakes cost us, but I also think we were a bit unlucky. Anyway, that is now behind us and in our Sunday match, we must get on the run and deliver good results. We cannot afford to lose this one.”Coached by Jerome Paarwater, the team has been boosted by the availability of Captain Wilson K’Opondo and the return from injury of KCB hooker Max Adaka.

The pair missed the test match against Portugal on May 30 and the Division 1A opener against Zimbabwe due to academic commitments and injury respectively.

Meanwhile, the 39th ranked Tunisia are expected in the country tomorrow ahead of Sunday’s fixture.