Shujaa landed in Cape Town on Monday evening ahead of this weekend’s second round of the 2017/18 HSBC Sevens World Series, the Cape Town Sevens taking place on 9/10 December at the Cape Town Stadium.
Speaking to Kenya Rugby on Tuesday, Head Coach Innocent Simiyu commented on the side’s showing at last weekend’s opening round in Dubai, saying, ” We started the season well..the boys put their best foot forward. We are happy so far with the performance and believe we can build on that.We need to execute better as we have the potential to close games early.The key focus in Dubai was to get our game going and we achieved this.”
He also spoke about this weekend’s Cape Town Sevens, saying, ” Our key focus in Cape Town is to have the boys consistently perform to their full potential and better last year’s cup quarterfinal performance.”
With three players joining the squad in Cape Town following injuries in Dubai to Dennis Ombachi (ankle) and Collins Injera (hamstring), Simiyu said of Oscar Ouma, Sam Muregi and Arthur Owira who is a late replacement for Erick Ombasa who had to pull out of the tour to Cape Town.
” Oscar brings leadership, experience and raw power to our game which will be very vital for a good start in Cape Town. Muregi adds pace to the team, his understanding of the game and try scoring ability are second to none while Arthur has had a very good sevens season with his club KCB and his work-rate on the pitch will help us a lot at the breakdown,” he said.
Shujaa currently sit seventh on the log with 10 points after last weekend’s first leg in Dubai. They exited that tournament at the cup quarterinal stage, losing narrowly 14-12 to New Zealand before suffering a 19-12 loss to Australia in the fifth place semifinal. They had earlier finished second in Pool with a 29-15 win over Canada, a 48-5 defeat to South Africa and a 29-14 win over Uganda.
They have been grouped in Pool A for the Cape Town Sevens with hosts South Africa, France and Russia.
