Expect fireworks against Zimbabwe, says Kenya Simbas coach

Kenya Simbas coach Paul Odera expects an exciting match when they renew rivalry with Zimbabwe Goshawks in Currie Cup Division 1 on Saturday.

Both teams are going for their first points after Zimbabwe lost 34-10 against Black Lion on April 2 in Cape Town and again 48-5 against Griffons on April 9, while Simbas suffered a 51-14 beating from Valke Falcons on April 9 in Brakpan.

The match will be held at the City Park Stadium, Cape Town.

Kenya has had the upper hand in this fixture in recent times. Simbas grabbed a 45-36 win in Nairobi after scoring two late tries from Martin Owilla and Dalmas Chituyi at the 2018 Rugby Africa Gold Cup.

Simbas lost Zimbabwe 28-20 at the Africa Cup in Harare in 2015. Kenya boasts of three straight victories against the Zimbabweans at the Africa Cup after also winning 61-15 in July 2016 in Harare, and 41-22 in Bulawayo in July 2017. They also met in Victoria Cup 2019 when Kenya lost 30-29 in August in Bulawayo before triumphing 36-14 in September in Nakuru.

Speaking ahead of Simbas second Currie Cup match, Odera admitted they had a challenging start.

“Credit to the boys. They kept their spirits up and were very positive but there’s only so much you can do in terms of psychological preparation if the physical preparation is challenging,” Odera said of the first fixture against Valke.

He noted that Valke were the better side. “They played the game in the right parts of the field. One thing we need to add to our game, which is lacking, is to be able to kick our way into the right parts of the field. Most of the time, we played the ball in our red zone. Any mistakes we made were actually quite costly,” he said.

Odera noted that there was a lot of work to be done at the breakdown “because 80 percent of the penalties we conceded were at the tackle, either with an arriving player with defence or an attack not being able to place the ball correctly and support play not being able to come in the right position."

He said the intensity of the match was what they expected but was surprised that his boys were able to match up to a lot of Valke play.

“What pleased me is that there were very few penalties we gave away because of high tackles. Our boys worked hard on that.”

Simbas had a two-week break before facing Zimbabwe.  “We have played Zimbabwe in the past and how they have fared in the Currie Cup will give us an idea of what we need to look at to be able to be effective in the game.”

He said he expects an exciting match as Kenya looks to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history. “Remember everything we are doing now is geared towards July 2 when we play Uganda (in Rugby Africa Cup quarter-final) and then look at the two subsequent matches after that. It will be a tough task for the players physically and mentally to play three big test matches in about 12 days in July,” said Odera.

Other quarter-final matches will involve Namibia v Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe v Ivory Coast and Senegal v Algeria. Winner of the eight-nation Africa Cup on July 10 will advance to the World Cup in 2023 in France.