Kenya Simbas head coach Paul Odera says he will blend experienced players with the young players ahead of their Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers against Senegal on July 3 in Nairobi.
Speaking after concluding their second training session at the RFUEA grounds, the tactician expressed confidence that the blend will help pay direct dividends to the entire team.
The tactician also narrated that the experienced players will come in handy in giving the newbies the confidence they need in the international platform, having called a significant number of foreign based players.
The blending of players in the national team will also aid in the growth of the game in the near future as the rising stars will be gathering experience that will help in forming a solid crop of players in future.
“I want to blend the type of players we have in Kenya because we have our settler community who play rugby from when they’re very young and those who start off a bit late and they are not as skillful. The experienced players help the younger players to grow fast” said Odera.
Odera also revealed that the Simba's selection team have created a database of players in Australia, South Africa, England and the local base to ease the selection process.
“We use data to be able to select the best players across the world because we’ve players all over the world playing professional rugby. We thus had to set a database and a system of analysis so that the best players represent the country,” Odera narrated.
A total of 102 players were picked for the camp, and will be expected to be trimmed to 50 and later to a final list of 30 players who will take part in the Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers campaign.