Simiyu: Tonga first, then we see

The new format of the Rugby World Cup Sevens at the 42,000-capacity AT & T Park in San Francisco, USA leaves no room for error for all Cup contenders. Featuring 24 teams, it is straight knock-outs starting at the pre-round of 16 stage; you lose and you are out.

Kenya coach Innocent Simiyu, who featured in the 2009 tournament as a loose running, elusive winger, will be very aware of the pressure cooker atmosphere at this venue that traditionally hosts baseball matches when they face Tonga Friday from 1.01pm local time (11.01pm Kenya time).

“We have to get going. It will be pressure. We have to adopt very fast, we cannot wait until half time to get into the game,” Simiyu said in Nairobi a day before the team departed for San Francisco on Sunday.

Be sure, Simiyu will have meticulously planned for this pre-round of 16 encounter. Former Kenya international scrumhalf and KRU development officer Fred Ollows, who played a part on Simiyu’s early development as both a player and tactician recently posted this on social media about the Kenya coach.

“A more diligent coach you couldn’t find. He is at ease with three things that make most coaches unable to gain the higher accreditations – planning, documentation and data-driven match analysis. He painstakingly breaks down matches and players. This probably draws from his graduate actuarial scientist background. He got a way to manage his players and drive results.”

“Tonga game is the most important. We have looked at how they play in the Oceania games. They play like Samoa but do not have the World Rugby Series experience of Samoa,” Simiyu said.

Can he craft a win over the South Pacific islanders?

Well, Kenya is a core World Rugby Sevens Series team and Simiyu guided them to an eighth placed finish with 104 points, their highest in the series’ history, while Tonga are fringe participants.

The Kenyan squad is one of the most experienced at the World Cup featuring Collins Injera, second on the World Rugby list of all-time top try scorer, Kenya’s top scorer in the series this season Willy Ambaka with 155 points, powerful Andrew Amonde, calculating Oliech, pure wheels Nelson Oyoo and Dennis Ombachi fondly remembered for that outrageous long-range try in South Africa that secured the team qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The Kenyans have been known for the athleticism, enterprise and latterly power that has made them one of the fans' favourite at the world circuit, and expect their loud following to descend in San Francisco and boisterously back them to victory.

Should they down the Tongans, Scotland awaits in the round of 16 at 7.03pm local time (Saturday 5.03am Kenyan time), and possibly title chasing South Africa in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

“We are aware of our likely path but our first focus is Tonga and then we pick it from there,” Simiyu said.