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L. MathekaKenya Simbas set for bubble camp for World Cup qualifiers
Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 20.05.21. | 16:13
Kenya is in pool B of the second round of World Cup qualification
National Rugby fifteens side, Kenya Simbas, are set to hit camp on Friday, 21 May, for a weekend bubble-camp as the Paul Odera-coached team begin physical training sessions in preparation for the Rugby Africa Cup cum Rugby World Cup qualifiers.
Odera has a 102-man provisional squad that has been training virtually for close to a month now and will be in camp for the weekend after which the squad will be whittled down to 50 players.
The Rugby Africa Cup Pools kicks off in July, with four pools of three teams each playing a Round-Robin tournament at a single venue per pool. The best two teams from each pool qualify for RAC 2022, which serves as the final round of Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifier for Africa.
— Thomas ???? ???? (@Thomas_Wheelock) May 19, 2021
“All players have undergone Covid-19 tests and only those who return negative results will be allowed to camp. Those based outside Nairobi are expected in camp on Friday evening with the Nairobi-based players joining on Saturday morning for a two-day weekend training. We will break camp on Sunday evening, after which the technical bench will deliberate on the players’ performance and come up with a top 50 list, set to be released on May 25,” offered Simbas’ team manager Jimmy Mnene adding that the foreign-based contingent will join the camp virtually.
The @KenyaSimbas will play Senegal (July 3) and Zambia (July 11) for the Rugby Africa Cup 2021 / RWC 2023 qualifier.
— Stephen Musyoka (@smusyoka) May 10, 2021
See complete Men's July internationals and Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers here > https://t.co/v9de06aUvG pic.twitter.com/1VTeFotQ95
The team of 50 will assemble again on the weekend of May 28 to 30 after which Odera and his technical bench will name a final 30-man squad that will prepare to face Senegal and Zambia in the qualifier set to be hosted in the country.
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“A final 30 players are scheduled for another weekend camp beginning June 5 before heading to South Africa for a ten-day residential training from June 11 to 20. We also intend to have residential training in Kenya before the competition set for July 3 and 11 but details on the same are yet to be finalized,” added Mnene.
Due to the health risks occasioned by Covid-19, the competition will be held in a bubble setting with Simbas set to play Senegal on July 3 before facing Zambia on July 11.
