Hungry Pirates seek promotion ahead of 2023/24 Kenya Cup season

South Coast Pirates head coach Kevin Amiani has revealed that it is business unusual at the Seacreast Grounds as the team gears up for a ‘do or die’ 2023/24 Kenya Cup season. The Kwale-based club will be looking to bounce back after their last attempts to qualify for the top-tier league ended in a 39-10 loss to Nondies RFC at the semi-final stage in the 2022/23 Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Championship season.

The coach however refused to let the loss demoralize his team. According to Amiani, it only motivated them to train harder. Come next season, they will be keen to learn from the mistakes of the past to take the Pirates to the highest level. Amiani was speaking at the team's traditional training grounds, Seacreast Grounds where the boys resumed preseason training.

"We are glad to be back in training, the first plan is to build a team that will take us to the Kenya cup this season," he said.

The coach also noted that they were further strengthening their arsenal with new faces in a bid to improve from last season’s performance. His confidence also stemmed from the injury-free squad.

"We are going to beef up our squad with new players set to join our side,we really need to have enough depth since it has been our main undoing in previous two seasons,we will base more on forwards and half back departments. So far all players are fit and available for selection once the season resumes,we haven't lost any player and instead we will be signing more,we don't have any injury concerns at the moment," he noted.

Amiani’s preparation approach also involves the organizing of friendlies to ensure his charges identify areas of improvement. He revealed that the Pirates are set to host the annual George Barbour cup pre-season tournament where teams from across the country will be invited.

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The annual tournament is held in memory of the late George Barbour, who played rugby for the Kenya national team in the early 1970s, and was the architect of South Coast Pirates' establishment.

"On matters of friendly matches,we shall be hosting the annual George Barbour cup pre-season tournament,if all goes well and if confirmed it will be under floodlights. We will also invite some teams from Nairobi and within," he revealed.

For the Pirates, their ultimate goal is to climb to the top tier at the end of the 2023/24 season. Amiani insisted that it was a ‘do or die’ season for the Pirates, noting that the players were mentally ready for the task.

"We have reviewed our performance last season and set new seasons targets,with one major target to achieve;GET PROMOTED to top tier Kenya cup,ever player is aware of the task ahead and what it takes to accomplish,it's a do or die moment for the club and we hope we achieve our targets,” he concluded.