Kenya Simbas are one step away from making history in both Rugby Africa Cup and the 2023 Rugby World Cup competitions.
The Paul Odera’s charges will on Sunday 10th July 2022 take on Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup final which doubles up as the 2023 RWC Qualifiers final.
The match will kick off at 10:00 pm at the Stade Maurice David in Aix en Provence, France.
In the journey to this stage, the Kenyan side beat Uganda Cranes 42-7 on Saturday 2nd July at the Stade Maurice-David. Simbas further beat Algeria 36-33 on Wednesday 6th July in Marseille, France in the competition’s semifinal.
On the other hand Namibia edged out Burkina Faso 71-5 in the quarterfinals before overpowering Zimbabwe by a 34-19 victory in the second semifinal.
Speaking after the Simbas team naming, Head Coach Paul Odera said that after the semifinal against Algeria, the focus was on recovery to ensure the players are well rested both physically and mentally and ready for the match against Namibia.
“Credit to the medical team, Steve Mankone and Dr. James Ondiege who have done a fantastic job with the players. It has been a case of less is more yesterday we had an SnC session in the gym and then we had the captain’s run this morning,” he stated.
Vice-Captain Malcolm Onsando added that the spirit in camp was high, “during our captain’s run this morning we ran through our line outs. We had a good session and we can see that everyone is fully switched on and ready for the final,” he said.
Paul Odera has retained the team that played against Uganda in the quarterfinals but with the inclusion of Bryceson Adaka. Collins Injera and Vincent Onyala who were rested on Wednesday due to knocks are back in the starting lineup as Simbas head for the final.
The winner of this encounter secures their spot in Pool A of the 2023 RWC as Africa one while the other gets a second chance with the repechage.
Simbas line up: 1. Patrick Ouko 2. Eugene Sifuna 3. Ephraim Oduor 4. Malcolm Onsando 5. Thomas Okeyo 6. George Nyambua 7. Daniel Sikuta 8. Bethuel Anami 9. Samuel Asati 10. Dominic Coulson 11. Collins Injera 12. John Okoth 13. Vincent Onyala 14. Jacob Ojee 15. Darwin Mukidza.
Impact players: 16. Teddy Akala 17. Edward Mwaura 18. Joseph Odero 19. Davis Chenge 20. Martin Owilah 21. Brian Tanga 22. Jone Kubu 23. Bryceson Adaka.
