SIMBAS IDENTIFIED: KRU names 60 players for national 15s rugby team

Portugal National Rugby Team Winger Diogo Toorn, left, tries to stop outside Ten Isaack Adimo, with the ball, assisted by Kenya's Winger Jacob Ojee, right during a friendly game at Harliquins grounds on Saturday, May 30th, 2015. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO.

Kenya Rugby Union has named a provisional squad of 60 players for the nations 15s team, the Simbas, to prepare for the Confederation of African Cup later in the year.

The squad would be whittled down to 35 players after a rigorous selection process at Rugby Football Union of East Africa Grounds in Nairobi on Sunday.

Kenya Cup League champions Kenya Commercial Bank and Resolution Impala Saracens have the highest number of players, nine players each, with Menengai Cream Homeboyz contributing seven.

The 35 selected players would then head to South Africa at the end of this month for a 12-day training for the Carl Cup in June and July.

While in South Africa, deputy coach Dominique Habimana said they would play two friendly matches against Boland and Western Province before coming back home in readiness for the first Carl Cup match against Uganda on June 24 at RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi.

“The trip to the south Africa will be to improve on our fitness levels and gauging the confidence of players before the continental assignments,” he said.

A total of five Carl Cup matches are lined up for Kenya, which include three home and two away matches in June and July.

In their second and third home matches, The Simbas would play Tunisia and Senegal at RFUEA Nairobi in July before flying to Harare to face Zimbabwe before taking on Namibia in the last away match in Gaborone.