Resurgent Kenya plans USA fall at Rugby World Series in Hamilton

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-01 16:57:17|Editor: Jiaxin
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NAIROBI, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's rugby team is on the rebound after good showing at the Sydney Sevens World Series and will build on that as it heads to Hamilton, New Zealand for the fourth stop of the nine-leg circuit on Saturday.

With the hope of selection to the team for the Commonwealth Games weighing heavily on the players mind, head coach Innocent Simiyu must exploit it to bring out the best from the team.

Kenya collected 10 points by virtue of reaching the cup quarterfinals for a tally of 23 points. This leaves them in ninth place.

The next round takes place in Hamilton, where Kenya will duel with the U.S., who are trained by former Kenyan coach Mike Friday, Samoa and Canada in Pool D.

Coach Simiyu is optimistic about a positive showing at the fourth round of the Sevens World Series on Feb. 3-4 at the Hamilton Sevens in New Zealand.

"We have a tough pool as always but we have done our training well and the players will play with pride and impress us all. Our key focus is to meet our performance targets especially in attack. Hopefully we will get the results we all want," Simiyu told Xinhua on Thursday.

Recounting the side's showing at the third round in Sydney where they reached the cup quarterfinal, he said: "the team played well and believe they still have a lot to play for in Hamilton."

Simiyu also extended his thanks to the team's fans for their relentless support despite mixed performance by the team. "We wish to thank all our supporters for believing in the team," he said.

Kenya, who currently sit ninth on the World Series log with 23 points, are in Pool D and will start their campaign on Saturday with a match against Samoa before facing Canada and the USA later.

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