Kenya is the firm favorites for the African Rugby Sevens Olympics Qualifier to be held in Johannesburg on the 14-15 of November. With African powerhouse South Africa booking their spot after finishing second to Fiji in last season’s World Sevens Series, the battle in 2016 will be between Kenya and the Zimbabwean team, with Zambia the underdogs.
This strong 12 team tournament hosted at the Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park, will battle it out for that one crucial spot reserved for the African Region. The runner-up in this tournament will be part of a repechage tournament, when and where is still to be determined by World Rugby, but teams like Nambia and Botswana will be pushing hard to reach the final match round.
The four team Pools are divided in three [A,B,C] with Pool A headed by top seed Kenya, along with Madagascar, Senegal and Mauritius. Pool B has Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda and Nigeria while Pool C has Northern African brothers Tunisia and high-flying Morocco, and includes Namibia and Botswana.
Kenya Sevens coach Benjamin Ayimba say’s they will not underrate their opponents. “This is an important qualifying tournament and we can’t afford to undervalue any of our opponents. We have not played against any of our Pool A opponents and I don’t know anything about them but there is no room for underrating any team.”
The Kenya side are preparing to use this weekend to lead into further competition. “We have set targets and everybody wants to play in Brazil next year,” Ayimba told FeverPitch.
The team is back in their nations capital Nairobi after a four-day high altitude training camp at the famous Nandi Bears Golf Club, in Nandi County. Although just 19 of the 32 players in the full provisional squad attended the training camp, former national captain Ayimba said he was impressed with the team’s fitness level. ”We have archived a lot from the training, where we have been since last Monday. The boys are in good shape physically and psychologically.”
“The main objective was to work on their psychological preparations and for the group to focus on how we all can work together as a team in this new season. We plan to go back there before departing to Johannesburg,” said Ayimba (the Kenyans will trim his squad to 12 before leaving Nairobi)
One certainty should be hard working Kenya Lions captain Andrew Amonde, a poster boy for the sport but one of the hardest working men in African Sevens Rugby.
“All players in attendance have been impressive since we started training, but unfortunately only 12 of them will travel to South Africa. I will name the travelling party in the next weeks, but expect more of the guys who featured in the Safari Sevens to be involved” –that tournament was won by the Mike Friday coached Samurai side at Kasarani, in Nairobi in the ur7s run tournament.
Meanwhile, former Springbok and Nigeria Black Stallion coach Fabian Juries commented on his sides fortunes, “The draws here offer some really exciting match-ups right from the group stages and there’s potential for many upsets which means no team can take anything for granted.”
Despite Zimbabwe being tipped by bookmakers as Group B favorites in the African Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifier, the South African rugby legend believes Zambia are no pushovers and with the runner-up having a future opportunity to reach the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, the upcoming event will be a huge stepping stone for whichever teams perform at their full capacity over November 14/15.
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WORLD RUGBY SEVENS SERIES begins with Round One in Dubai on 4th/5th December, 2016.
Follow all the Sevens Rugby action with our in-depth coverage on Last Word On Sports with Jovilisi Waqa.
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