Kenya Simbas boss Paul Odera is confident of positive results as he continues to prepare his 38-man squad for the Rugby World Cup repechage set for November 6th to 18th in Dubai.
Odera curved out a provisional 38-man squad last week in order to monitor their fitness before eventually naming the final squad for the qualifiers.
According to coach Odera, he is pleased with the fitness levels of the players considering they had not trained together in a while.
“The fitness levels we have seen are of course not at the level we want, but the boys have worked hard on their own and with their clubs. They have not forgotten the work we did both technically and tactically, which a good thing is heading into the qualifiers.”
Odera only called up three new players to the camp whom have adopted really well despite not having adequate experience.
The trio include Homeboyz youngster Amon Wamalwa, Quins prop Melvin Thairu and KCB’s Geoffrey Okwach.
“I cannot say they had a bad camp, but it will take them a while to come up to speed with the pace of training as well as what is expected of them, but they are on the right track.”
Odera further noted that his team needs financial support in order to prepare well, in order to boost its chances of qualifying for its first World Cup.
“If we get the funding, I think we will have a good opportunity to prepare and be more competitive in November. Once we are competitive, then the games will be closer and you never know, maybe results will go our way.”
Simbas are set to hold two more camps at the RFUEA grounds before flying out to South Africa for further training as well as to take part in friendly matches before flying to Dubai for the tournament.