15s team now target CAF tournament

By BS Mulavi

Kenya: The Kenya National 15s rugby team have shifted their focus to next month’s Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) tournament.

After winning the Elgon Cup, the side is optimistic of winning the continental trophy in Mauritius.

Speaking to FeverPitch after their emphatic victory in Kampala over the weekend, captain, Brian Nyikuli, was in an upbeat mood concerning their chances in Madagascar during the continental event, which runs between July 8 and 14.

“We played very well in Uganda and defended in one of our best away displays yet,” he said.

.

Keep Reading

•  vivo ushers in a new era of portrait photography with the slim and premium-designed V30
•  Kuppet, TSC agree on promotion of 30,000 teachers
•  vivo V30 5G launching in Kenya: Step into the future with style
•  Inside Ruto's Sh16 trillion last-ditch plan to save Vision 2030Premium
•  We have hit some good Vision 2030 milestones but missed key targetsPremium

“We now break for three days before embarking on training as we prepare for the CAR Cup,” he added.

Kenya, who are in Division 1A of the tournament, need to maintain their status quo if they hope to qualify for the 2015 15 Rugby World Cup.

In order to qualify for the World Cup, they need to win the CAR Cup next year, which is Kenya’s top mission.

Good player

“We have the World Cup in our minds, but we are first taking it one step at a time,” Nyikuli explained.

“We are now fully concentrating on winning this year’s tournament so that we get the chance to host next year’s tournament here at home.”

“I know a good player can be described by how well he plays during away fixtures, but if we can get the home advantage, the better for us.”

Nyikuli feels that their chances will be greatly enhanced if they host the event in Nairobi.

Home soil

“We know how to play on home soil and our World Cup chances will be greater if we play in Nairobi,” he added.

“We also need to win the CAR Cup to prove that we are indeed a team to reckon with in Africa. When we won it three years ago, many people said it was because of the teams that failed to take part in the event. This time round I think we can play them all and prove a point that we are good at home and away ,” he added.

Kenya start their CAR campaign against Uganda, which Nyikuli feels, will work out well for them given that they convincingly beat them on their home soil (during the Elgon Cup).

Should they beat Uganda, Kenya will progress to the finals where they will meet the winners of the Zimbabwe versus Madagascar encounter.

The team will go into residential camp on Friday and, according to Nyikuli, they are fully focused on making it to the World Cup.

He said they want to build on the success of the sevens team to excel.