Amonde holds back from blaming Simbas after Portugal whitewash

Former Kenya 7s skipper Andrew Amonde steered away from faulting Kenya Simbas following their 85-0 annihilation at the hands of Portugal in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Repechage qualification.

Simbas were no match for an impressive Portugal outfit who pummeled 13 tries past a hapless Kenya side that struggled to get going in the encounter.

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Amonde revealed that preparation ahead of the tournament was insufficient which was evident in the clash as Simba made a plethora of errors.

“I cannot blame the guys who played in that game, winning take a lot of preparation and that is something that they did not have as a team and that reflected on the game.

The next time we are preparing for the World Cup qualifiers we should put in a lot of hard work and preparation so there are a lot of sacrifices that need to be done for the team to be able to perform well,” said Amonde.

Paul Odera’s side have endured a myriad of challenges in the build-up to the qualifiers with the major issue being funding as they failed to secure any high-profile friendlies before the tournament.

Amonde however noted that for Kenya to qualify for their maiden World Cup tourney they have no option but to beat Namibia in the Africa qualifiers.

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“The only way we will be able to go to the World Cup is by beating Namibia, going through Repechage is hard. Playing three seasoned teams is very hard.

For us what we should next focus on if we want to be on the big stage is beating Namibia and that will surely earn us a place in the World Cup,” Amonde added.