NAIROBI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — Kenya faces an uphill job to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics rugby event on the upcoming Rugby Africa Sevens in Harare, Zimbabwe this weekend, which additionally serves because the African Qualification Tournament for the Summer Games in France.
Having made the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 competitions in Brazil and Japan, Kenya Sevens – popularly often called Shujaa – will search to upstage Africa’s top-ranked facet South Africa’s Blitzbokke.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) named the squad for Harare on Tuesday in Nairobi with Vincent Onyala, who overcame an harm setback throughout the 2022-2023 World Rugby Sevens Series, making a return as co-captain to the crew, alongside Tony Omondi.
Speaking to the press, Shujaa Coach Kevin Wambua burdened the crew’s dedication to taking one sport at a time and approaching every match as if it was a closing.
“The primary goal is to perform strongly in the pool stage and secure a top position by the end of day one, ultimately advancing to the quarterfinals.
“The squad is decided and believes they’ve what it takes to excel within the competitors,” the brand new coach added.
Wambbua named a blended squad of six established and an equal variety of potential newcomers as they search to make a 3rd Olympics in a row.
The crew is coming off relegation from the highest tier HSBC World Sevens Series after 19 years final season.
Meanwhile, Blitzbokke didn’t nail an computerized qualification spot for the Olympics after ending exterior the highest 4 within the World Series in addition to the hosts who beat Kenya within the closing of the Under-20 Barthes Trophy held in Nairobi earlier this 12 months.
Shujaa begins its marketing campaign on Saturday in opposition to west African rivals Nigeria earlier than dealing with South African powerhouse Namibia and Zambia of their pool video games.
The winner of the event will clinch a ticket to Paris 2024 with the shedding finalist advancing to the World Rugby Repechage to face runners-up from different continents the place the ultimate slot for the Olympics event can be secured.