Sinaida Aura of Kenya Lionesses evades a tackle during their Elgon Cup clash against Uganda in May. PHOTO/Raymond Mokhaya
NAIROBI, September 18 – National women sevens team head coach, Mike Shamiah is planning to name a more defensive squad for the 2016 Africa Olympics qualifiers set for September 24 and 25 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Lioness open their campaign against Botswana before taking on Tunisia, Madagascar and Senegal in a relatively easy Pool B as they quest to bag the only slot from the continental regional qualifiers.
Shamiah was aware of the task that awaits them after failing to book one of the two places available at the 2015-16 Rugby Women Sevens Series season but the tactician outlined their mission is to reach the finals.
“We expect to have a purely defensive squad and when it comes to attack we will use speed. We had a good experience in Dublin which served as a build-up and I’m glad to report that the girls are in good shape, well conditioned to take on teams.
“The Pool is interesting, against Botswana, we expect a running game which we have prepared for while and in other games, we anticipate a contact match but we are ready to contest and hopefully qualify for Olympics,” Shamiah declared.
Kenya’s biggest threat in the two day competition is South Africa who will be remembered for denying the Lionesses a Confederation of Africa Cup Sevens title last year when it was held in Machakos.
“We have a history with South Africa after they beat us last year but in a good day any mighty team can fall anyone and we hope it will be our day.
“My biggest aim is making the game better and in our country and if we qualify, we will have more girls exposed,” the coach added.
Favourites South Africa headline Pool A alongside, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia and Zambia.
Series champions, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and England automatically earned their qualifications after finishing top four in the 2014-15 campaign.
