Kenya drops in 15s World Rugby rankings

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.

The National Fifteens Rugby Team have dropped to position 24 from 22nd in the latest rankings released by World Rugby on Monday.

The Simbas, whose last assignment was in an International friendly match against Hong Kong, which they won 34-10 in Nairobi in August last year, have 59.28 points and have been replaced by Germany with 60.73 points.

World Champions New Zealand remains at the top of the global rankings with 94.78 points.

South Africa, which is the highest ranked team in Africa are placed sixth globally followed by Namibia(19), Kenya(24), Zimbabwe (37), Senegal (39) and Uganda (43), among the six top teams in the continent.

The Simbas have an opportunity to improve on their rankings when they play Uganda in the first leg clash of the Elgon Cup in Kampala on June 10. Afterwards they face the same side in a return match two weeks later in Nairobi in a tournament that marks the start of the Africa Cup in fixtures involving Tunisia, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The Simbas deputy coach Dominique Habimana attributed their fall in rankings after they missed to play Hong Kong in return leg matches against the same side in the Asian country in November last year.

“Our drop in the rankings is due to not playing Hong Kong in their country in the return leg clash last November,” he pointed out.

However, Habimana exuded confidence of recovering the lost ground in their next assignments later in the year.

“We are determined to win our next international matches in order to revert to our normal position or improve further in the global rankings,” he stated.

So far, Kenya Rugby Union has announced a provisional squad of 60 players for The Simbas preparing for the Confederation of African Rugby Cup matches.

The squad would be whittled down to 35 players before they depart to South Africa for a training sessions of two weeks at the end of the month where they would be required to play two buildup matches against Boland and Western Province.

Athletics
Kenyan stars ready for World Cross showdown in Belgrade
By Ben Ahenda 5 hrs ago
Motorsport
Safari Rally 2024: Tanak urges Kenyan children to take up motorsports as a career
Rugby
SCHOOLS: From the classroom to the field, Kisumu Girls ready to lift national rugby trophy
Motorsport
Safari Rally 2024: Neuville clinches Kasarani stage as Hyundai makes intention known