Lionesses, Shujaa check in at Miramas, to face French teams as separate preparations hot up

The Kenyan National men’s and women’s rugby teams, Shujaa and Lionesses, have officially checked into their pre-Olympics camp in the city of Miramas, France.

On Thursday, they had the honor of welcoming the Mayor of Miramas, Frédéric Vigouroux, who visited the camp to show his support and solidarity with the teams.

While Shujaa concentrate on reclaiming their core status in the HSBC World Rugby Series after their impressive qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games last week, the Lionesses are eyeing to go through to the Summer Games.

Their attempt to qualify was derailed after missing the sole African ticket to the Lady Boks, and will now use their last opportunity to make the games through a repechage tournament in Monaco on 21-23 June.

As to how they prepare, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) indicates that the team will train in Miramas for two weeks, before coming back to Nairobi for a week.

The squad will then fly back to Miramas to train for one more week, before heading to Monaco, a venue that has hosted final qualification events before the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Lionesses lay in Pool A in the qualifiers against Argentina, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa, while in the HSBC playoffs, Shujaa lay in Pool B against host Spain, Samoa, and Chile.

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"We are delighted to be in camp here in Miramas, as opposed to going back home and then returning later for the challenger series," Co-Captain Tony Omondi said on Thursday. "This setup allows us to stay focused and train in conditions akin to those we will face in the competitions."

During their training period in Miramas, both teams will engage in test matches with various French rugby teams.