SA’s Leopards fly in for date with Kenya Simbas

North West Leopards from South Africa land in the country Thursday morning ahead of the historic Currie Cup Division One clash with Kenya Simbas on Saturday at the RFUEA ground.

The Leopards will arrive at 6am for the duel that will witness the Currie Cup being played outside South Africa for the first time.

The Simbas, who have been in South Africa for close to two months, are back in the country, with the last batch of players expected to jet in Tuesday night.

The Simbas will play the last two of their Currie Cup matches in Nairobi against the Leopards before meeting Eastern Province Elephants on June 11.

All the matches in the battle dubbed the "Nairobi Series" will be played at the RFUEA ground.

Raymond Oruo of Direct Sports Management, a firm that is marketing the Currie Cup Nairobi Series, disclosed that entry fee is Sh1,000 for regular seating and Sh2,000 for VIP.

Oruo said that the duel will kick off at 4pm and that there will be no build up matches so as to preserve the status of the field.

“It’s currently raining and we want the pitch to be in pristine condition,” said Oruo, adding that any changes to the program will be communicated.    

Kenya Simbas have only one win from their seven outings and are currently placed ninth in the log with eight points.  

The Simbas lost their opening match to Falcons 51-14 on April 9 before going down to Zimbabwe 22-21 on April 23 and Griffons 66-33 on April 30.

However, they made their presence felt when they claimed their first win, beating Border Bulldogs 35-12 on May 7 at Fort Hare Stadium.

They would at one point tie the duel at 25-25 before losing to Boland Cavaliers 45-33 on May 21.

The Simbas lost their 7-0 lead against South Western Districts (SWD) Eagles before going down 24-7 on Saturday.

Kenya Simbas coach Paul Odera was impressed with the team's performance so far.

“We are happy with the progress we have made. The conditions were difficult in the opening 40 minutes, but we played well in the second half. We now need to take our chances and minimize our errors at crucial times,” said Odera.

Kenya is using the South African competition to prepare for the 2022 Rugby Africa Cup slated for July 1-10 in France. The Africa Cup will also serve as the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.

The Leopards are seventh with three wins and four losses, while Elephants are second with 26 wins drawn from five wins and two loses.

The Northern Free State Griffons, who enjoy an unbeaten run, top the 10-team standings with 39 points from eight wins.

The top four teams will advance to the semi-finals on June 18 with the final due on June 25.

South Africa Rugby tournament director Yusuf Jackson was in the country on May 3 to launch the Currie Cup “Nairobi Series.”

Jackson was accompanied by Eastern Province Rugby chief executive officer, Thando Manana and Elephants Rugby counterpart, Eugene Fourie.