Simbas face Portugal in crunch World Cup Repechage match

Kenya Simbas players during their training session at Pembroke International school in Gilgil Nakuru county on October 29,2022 ahead of the Rugby World Cup Repechage in Dubai.[Kipsang Joseph,Standard]

Simbas assistant coach Mike Aung is banking on speed and agility to propel Kenya to victory when they face Portugal in a crucial must-win World Cup Repechage match at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai today from 3pm local time.

Aung, who backed the technical bench's decision to make 12 changes to the team that lost to the United States of America last week, said the rotation and resting of key senior players led by captain Dan Sikuta will improve the team.

"We have done some squad rotation compared to the first match. The game against the USA was a physical one so we have gone for slight rotation in the squad. We have gone for a quicker pack and backline as well," Aung said.

"Obviously, we have seen their back three in action, that was quite useful. We're looking to try to mitigate that, focusing on our strengths. We want to make sure that we reduce the amount of possession that they have. So we can keep the ball more."

The Simbas lost 68-14 to USA in the opening match and must win today's encounter to stand a chance of progressing to next year's World Cup in France.

After losing to the USA, bonus point wins against Portugal and Hong Kong hoping US losses might just hand Simbas the 20th and final spot in Group C alongside Wales, Australia, Fiji and Georgia.

"In terms of our preparation, we didn't have any warm-up matches. So we felt that in that first game against the USA we scored two very good tries. Our play was a little bit rusty, we didn't have that fine edge.

"So we talked a lot about that, and through training we have corrected some of those errors of that first match, and I feel we now haved the game plan and the right mindset heading to this next match," added Aung.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Amon Wamalwa will debut for Simbas at fly half while 19-year-old Joshua Weru who came off the bench for a try scoring debut in last Sunday's loss to the USA will make his first full start at number eight in place of Bethuel Anami who is rested for this fixture.

The duo are among eight changes to the side that started Sunday's opener against the USA, the others being Edward Mwaura and Teddy Akala in the front row, Brian Juma at lock, Martin Owilah in the back row, Brian Tanga at scrum half, Beldad Ogeta and Timothy Omela on the wings.

Samuel Asati moves from scrum half to fullback in one of two positional changes, the other seeing Thomas Okeyo shifted from lock to blindside flank.

Malcolm Onsando captains the side in the absence of Daniel Sikuta who is also rested for this fixture after suffering a concussion in the opening fixture.

Locally, defending champions KCB Rugby will renew their rivalry with Nondescript when they face off in the 2022 Impala Floodlights finals today from 7:30pm at Impala grounds.

The bankers booked a spot in the finals after edging out Blak Blad 14-3 at Impala Grounds last weekend.

In Kakamega, Kenya Cup champions Kabras Sugar will play Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in the Victoria Cup finals at the Bull Ring from 4pm.