Kenya’s Alvin Otieno Otieno tries to tackle a Spain’s Pol Pia on day two of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2018 on 1 December. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 – Kenya Sevens head coach Paul Murunga will be looking for the first win of his tenure when the team kicks off their Cape Town campaign on Saturday afternoon against England.
Shujaa collected only a single point from last weekend’s World Sevens Series opening stop in Dubai having lost all their matches, but Murunga who was appointed to the helm a month and a half ago is optimistic things will be different this time round.
“We have worked on our defense as a team. We have looked at our tactical shape, spacing and individual tackles and we have looked to improve those,” the tactician stated.
He added; “We have also work on attack in terms of space creating and speed and I have the confidence that the new guys have picked the tempo and we will be fine and do better in Cape Town.”
Kenya starts its campaign against England at 12:21pm before facing Fiji in their second Pool C match at 3:20pm. Their final game of the group phase will be at 6:41pm against France.
Kenya’s Jeffrey Okwacha Otieno races away from the Spain defense on day two of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens 2018 on 31 November, 2018. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
The tactician hopes he can squeeze out of the groups and into the Main Cup quarters as he looks to earn his protracted 10 points per leg even with the big stars still missing after being part of the Kenya Simbas squad at the Repechage Tournament in Marseille France.
“We are in a tough group and we need to work hard in every game,” the tactician stated.
His start to the top job at Shujaa was one to forget as he lost all his matches.
Shujaa started off with a 35-14 loss at the hands of Scotland before going down 21-17 to France and end their hopes of making it into the Main Cup Quarters. Their final match of the groups was a 43-12 spanking at the hands of Fiji.
In the Challenge Trophy Quarters, they lost 26-19 to Spain before going down at the hands of Japan in the 13th place play-off.
“We had an inexperienced squad for that level and that is why we struggled to make any result especially in high pressure games. Our defense was weak and we did not keep possession in attack. That’s why we could not do well,” the tactician stated on their failure to perform.
