Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is confident that Minjire and Lugonzo add a new dimension to the team’s formation. He was speaking on march 28, 2018 as he unveiled the squad for the April tour. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 6- Having reached the final of the Vancouver Sevens in Canada last month, Shujaa will be keen to maintain the same consistency when they kick off their campaign in Hong Kong on Friday afternoon.
Shujaa had their best performance in Canada, getting to the final for only a fifth time in history and amassing a season high 19 points.
“Of course we know at this point the expectation is very high from everyone and we appreciate the consistent support that we have had. But for us, the key focus is on how we hit our performance targets both individually and as a team,” Simiyu said prior to the team’s departure to Hong Kong.
He adds; “We have the minimum target we have set as a team which is getting 10 points per leg but over and above that we have tactical targets in terms of break-downs, game management and all tactical issues.”
Shujaa get their campaign off on Friday at 2:54pm when they take on Canada before tackling Spain and Australia in the next two matches on Saturday morning.
Kenya celebrate the Cup semi final win over USA on day two of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Vancouver on 11th March, 2018. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
“It is a very tough pool because at this point in the series, no team is easy. We have done our home work on all our opponents in terms of game plan and we are confident of getting good results,” the tactician further affirmed.
The team has been on a trajectory since their below par performance in Cape Town where they picked up a paltry three points. They have gone on to pick 10 points in Sydney and Las Vegas in between 12 points from the Hamilton leg in New Zealand.
Simiyu says the improved performance has been down to good pre-season and he hopes they can even finish stronger with the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and the Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco coming up.
“We are glad that we have most of our key players returning from injury and that is a key thing for us and is an added advantage going forward because the young ones have also shown good promise in the tournaments we have played so far,” Simiyu affirmed.
