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K’Opondo rallies Kenyan team for Madagascar job
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- The captain said even though they tried to refine on their scrums, lineout and breakdowns, their opponents will definitely maul against them.
Kenya 15s rugby skipper Wilson K’Opondo has said Saturday’s opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup (RWC) qualifiers against Namibia could have a significant bearing in the country’s overall campaign.
Jerome Paarwater’s charges kick off their campaign for the United Kingdom event against Namibia tomorrow at 1pm before facing hosts Madagascar on Wednesday next week at 3pm. Kenya will play its final match against Zimbabwe on Sunday next week at 3pm.
Both Kenya and Namibia are already in Antananarivo ready for the tournament that will double up as the Confederation of Africa Rugby (CAR) Division 1A championship also known as Africa Cup.
K’Opondo said facing Namibia, who have represented Africa at the RWC four times, in the first match is advantageous since their opponents will not have had a chance to study their tactics.
“Namibia have found it a challenge drawing their stars from Europe and South Africa for training. We not had such challenges in the Kenyan camp,” said K’Opondo.
K’Opondo added that Kenya’s victory at the Africa Cup last year followed by a Vodacom Cup appearance in March and April has kept the team under Namibia and Zimbabwe’s radar.
“We have had very good preparations in the last six months and that gives us confidence and belief that our maiden RWC appearance is a reality,” said K’Opondo.
Vodacom Cup experience
The captain said even though they tried to refine on their scrums, lineout and breakdowns, their opponents will definitely maul against them.
“That is why it will for us to give a 100 per cent performance in set-pieces, win our first phase of play and keep possession. But our Vodacom Cup experience has improved our scrummages,” he said.
Namibia will be eying their fifth RWC finals appearance after representing Africa at 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 finals while Zimbabwe are seeking a comeback after the 1987 and 1991 appearances.
Kenya’s five previous attempts to qualify have been unsuccessful. Kenya’s campaign started in 1993 during a round-robin tournament in Nairobi when they beat Arabian Gulf 24-23 but lost to Namibia and Zimbabwe 60-9 and 42-7 respectively to miss the 1995 finals in South Africa.
