‘Tank’ prefers cautious play in Madagascar

Kenya’s national rugby team will kick off their qualification campaign for the 2015 Rugby World Cup this afternoon in what is expected to be a tough match against Namibia in Madagascar.

And with expectations high on the team, former head coach Michael ‘Tank’ Otieno has offered invaluable advice ahead of the opening match.

Otieno has cautioned the team to be careful with pack play, an aspect of the game that he believes will have a significant bearing in the match’s outcome.

“The match will most likely be won and lost in the pack. Our players need to be cautious in their pack play because that is what will determine whether or not they get the first balls in attack,” Otieno said Friday.

Otieno cited the Tri-Nations tournament in November last year, the last time the two teams faced off at a competitive level, when Kenya led Namibia at half time only for the Southern Africa side to stage a remarkable comeback for a 55-35 victory.

NO PUSHOVERS

“The changes they made in the second half were in the front row and that is why the Kenyan technical bench must make wise decisions in the pack,” he said.

However, Kenya won’t be pushovers considering that they are the Africa champions and with the inclusion of the national Sevens team players the team has enough quality and depth.

Another advantage for the Kenyan team is the long period of time that the players have spent together coupled with a maiden appearance in the Vodacom Cup last month in South Africa.

The 1pm kick-off match will be followed by an encounter between hosts Madagascar and Zimbabwe at 3pm at the same venue. The winning team in the round-robin tournament will book their tickets to next year’s Rugby World Cup finals in England and Wales.

The second-placed team will play Russia in the Repechage semi-finals, with the winner facing either Uruguay or Hong Kong for a place in the World Cup.

DARK HORSES

The hosts as dark horses by virtue of the Namibians having been to the RWC finals four times. The Southern Africa side also boasts of a better head-to-head record, 2-1, in their previous RWC matches.

The championship doubles up as the Confederation of Africa Rugby Division 1A tournament that is also known as Africa Cup. 

Hosts Madagascar play Zimbabwe at 3pm in the other qualification match at the same venue. The winning team in the round-robin tournament will book their tickets to next year’s Rugby World Cup finals in England and Wales.

Second place team will play Russia in the Repechage semi-finals in with the winner facing either Uruguay or Hong Kong for a place in the World Cup.

Head coach Jerome Paarwater said he is aware that Namibia will adopt a mauling game but hastened to add that his team has worked on its pack for the last six months.

“That is why we have brought in more forwards after the experience in the Tri-Nation and Africa Cup last year,” said Paarwater. “We improved on our scrums after we beefed up and conditioned upfront at the Vodacom Cup.”