COACH SPEAKS ON DROPPED 7s STARS:Namcos defends decision to leave out big names Khayange, Biko

Former National Sevens captain Humprey Khayange in action during the IRB series in Hong Kong last year.

Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu has defended his decision to exclude the experienced duo of Humphrey Khayange and Biko Adema from the team selected for the upcoming Dubai Sevens, the first leg of the 2016-2017 World Rugby Sevens Series season slated for December 2-3.

Khayange and Biko were the biggest casualties as Simiyu named his first 25-man provisional squad since his appointment last week.

The team is expected to be whittled down this week.

According to the 33-year-old former national Fifteens and Sevens team captain, the omission was based purely on ‘rugby’ reasons.

However, Simiyu said they were planning to incorporate Khayange in his technical bench, while Biko has been given personal targets to meet before being re-considered for selection.

 

PROVISIONAL SQUAD

“Just to make it clear, I am not in charge of selecting the Kenya Sevens squad.

The squad is selected by the National Sevens Committee, which is a panel that assesses the provisional squad after the Sevens Circuit season is over and reviews the performance in the World Rugby circuit,” said Simiyu.

“In the case of Biko and Khayange, there were legitimate reasons for not selecting them. However, we have not overlooked them. We will incorporate them in the team.

“Biko has been given individual targets to meet and thereafter he will be reviewed by the committee. And we will see how we can include Khayange in management because his experience and expertise are valuable to the team.”

Commenting on their Dubai Sevens Pool D drawing against France, Australia and Japan, Simiyu said: “We are in a good competitive pool. We have good teams; Japan defeated us in the Olympics where they were playing their best rugby, and France are also good competitors because they play an open game while Australia have good young players who are skills-based.

 BIGGEST TASK

“Our biggest task is how we will get our game going and manage them. While we respect all the teams in our pool, we are Kenya and we will take the game to them,” he said.

“We already have a game plan in place and we will complement it with fitness and core skills. Change is good, and we expect new things. We will continue building our strategy as the season unfolds.”

Meanwhile, the Kenya Sevens team has been invited to the Safland Sevens Tournament set for November 12-13 in the coastal city of Swakopmund, Namibia.

This is will be Simiyu’s first assignment since his appointment as head coach mid last month.

Other teams expected to participate in the top-tier category of the tournament are the US, Argentina, Germany, Zimbabwe, Italy, Uganda and hosts Namibia.