Simbas kick-off Africa Cup preps with World Cup ticket in mind

Simbas were in a one-week alignment camp in Kakamega, and Katywa says it will bring synergy in the squad.

“There has always been a call for us to give opportunity to some guys and honestly there are some guys who have raised their hands and that is what we did by picking them for this camp. But what the communities don’t understand is the fact that it’s difficult to bring in new players that don’t understand the system.

“We don’t coach the same way, we don’t play the same way, so it’s hard to bring in players when they don’t understand the system. So the alignment camp that we had was to align the players with what we do. We will be having a lot more, the next one hopefully in March and we will pick more players.”

Simbas are gearing up for the Rugby World Cup qualifiers slated for July this year in Uganda.

“It’s world cup qualifier and we want to do very well. We want to qualify. We want to give everybody a chance; for instance, anyone who does well in the upcoming Kenya Cup matches between now and march, we will call them for the next alignment camp.”

Kenya will be hoping to bounce back in the expanded format of the world cup after failing to qualify in the previous two tournaments.

In 2022, Kenya missed out of the Rugby World Cup after losing to Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup final with Africa being granted a single ticket.

However, the expansion of the tournament from 20 to 24 teams has seen Africa and Asia given an extra slot which will be shared between the two.

The winner of the Rugby Africa Cup will punch a direct ticket to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia while the runner will progress to the Asia/Africa Play-off.