Kenya 15s head coach Paul Odera remains optimistic that Kenya can clinch the elusive ticket to the Rugby World Cup when the qualifiers are staged next year in France, also the host nation for the 2023 showpiece.
While Kenya is a force to reckon with in the Sevens, the longer version of the game has not enjoyed as much success. The closest Kenya came to qualifying for the World Cup was in 2015, but the team lost their last match to Zimbabwe when they just needed a draw.
But Odera, who took charge of the team in 2019 is ready to banish those ghosts and see the team progress to France.
The tactician says the exposure and experience Kenya has picked so far in its tour of South Africa have given him hope that the team is within reach of the World Cup.
The Simbas have so far played three matches down South, losing 85-17 to Currie Cup’s selected best team, going down 60-24 to Namibia after a second half collapse and winning 36-30 against Brazil over the weekend.
“The World Cup dream is very much alive. With this team spirit and resilience then we are unstoppable in our journey towards France 2023. This game and victory against Brazil gave us a lift and we are now looking towards improving further,” said the coach.
He added; “We had set ourselves three targets for the game in terms of pressure, focus and confidence basing on what we had seen against Namibia.”
“We managed to put pressure on Brazil in attack by being creative, good running lines and hard direct running by the forwards. In defence we tried to put pressure by jackaling at the tackle, but got penalised a number of times.”
“We also tried to remain focussed for 80 minutes and keep our concentration, unlike in the match the week before against Namibia,” he further added.
The Simbas will wind up their three-week tour of South Africa with a clash against Spanish side, Diables Barcelona on Thursday where Odera hopes to see further improvement.