NAIROBI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya might not be out of the woods yet, but the country's rugby sevens head coach Paul Murunga believes their luck may turn in this weekend's Vancouver Sevens in Canada.
The team, which showed a late resurgence at the Las Vegas Sevens, had its cruise halted by Spain on Monday in the Challenge Trophy finals, and will now turn their attention to the sixth stop in the 10-leg World Series.
Kenya earned five points in the Las Vegas Series but remain in 13th place with 17 points in the 18-team table, just above the relegation zone. They are also 12 points behind France who sit 12th.
"I know we have still got a long way to go, but the team is improving by the day. We had to make some late changes after a technical hitch saw one of our top players miss out on a visa to the USA," the coach said on Monday.
Kenya will now have to face Olympic champions Fiji in Pool B of the Vancouver Sevens, with hosts Canada and Samoa, runners-up in the recent Las Vegas Sevens, completing the group.
Murunga explained that everything will fall into place with proper preparation, motivation of players, sponsorship and a commitment to see players signed to better contracts.
"It's about proper high performance preparation, and without that we shall still struggle to get to the top tier," said Murunga.
Kenya are without several top names who have opted to stay away from the World Series in a contract dispute.
However, Murunga has been forced to make do with what he has, and believes his players will work hard enough to enable the country to avoid the chop at the end of the series in May.
"Kenya has resilient players and a strong attitude. We will avoid relegation. We want to get a team that can dominate at the World Cup, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Series," he added.
Vancouver will be the first time this season that Kenya will not be paired with France in the group stages, unlike previous stops in Dubai, Cape Town, Hamilton, Sydney and Las Vegas.
In last year's Vancouver Sevens, Kenya came out second best to Fiji in a Pool C that also contained Spain and France, after winning the final pool game 24-21. Those two went all the way to the final where Fiji bested Kenya 31-12 to take gold.
Back-to-back Las Vegas champions USA will headline Pool A in Vancouver that also features South Africa, Chile and Wales. New Zealand and Argentina lead Pools C and D.
