Kenya Simbas land in Dubai for Repechage
Namibia's flanker Wian Conradie (left) scores his team's second try during the Rugby Africa Cup rugby union final match against Kenya at the Maurice David Stadium in Aix-en-Provence, southeastern France, on July 10, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The former African champions arrived in Dubai for the four-nation competition at 6.00am after leaving Nairobi on Tuesday night
- The Simbas were the last team to arrive for the competition that will be played in round robin format
- They will start training on Thursday in preparation for their opening match against USA on Sunday at The Sevens Stadium
National men’s 15s rugby team, Kenya Simbas landed in Dubai, UAE on Wednesday ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup - Final Qualification Tournament (Repechage) slated for November 6-18.
The former African champions arrived in Dubai for the four-nation competition on Wednesday 6.00am after leaving Nairobi on Tuesday night.
“All is fine except that Dubai is very hot, it's 34 degrees Celsius,” said Simbas team manager Jimmy Mnene, noting that they are just going through the recovery protocols.
The Simbas were the last team to arrive for the competition that will be played in round robin format.
They will start training on Thursday in preparation for their opening match against USA on Sunday at The Sevens Stadium. This will be the first meeting between these two sides.
Coach Paul Odera’s charges will meet Portugal on November 12 and end their campaign against Hong Kong on November 18.
Kenya is familiar with Portugal and Hong Kong. The Simbas mauled Portugal 41-15 in an international friendly match in Nairobi in 2017. They defeated Hong Kong 24-18 and 34-10 in Nairobi in 2016 before drawing 19-19 and then losing 43-34 and 40-30 in Nairobi in 2017 also in friendlies.
Unlike Kenya who have never been to the 15s Rugby World Cup, USA have only missed out on one edition since the inaugural event in 1987. The Americans dropped to the Repechage after losing to South American opponents Uruguay and Chile in Americas 1 and 2 deciders respectively.
Portugal were the first team to secure their place in Repechage after qualifying as the third-highest ranked team from the last two editions of the Rugby Europe Championship.
Os Lobos were joined by Kenya, who qualified as Rugby Africa Cup 2022 runners-up after losing to Namibia in the final in France.
Hong Kong were defeated by Tonga in the Asia/Pacific 1 play-off.
The Repechage winner will qualify for next year's World Cup in France where they will face Wales, Australia, Fiji and Georgia in Pool 'C'.
