NAIROBI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya women's rugby team will pitch camp in South Africa prior to the continental World Cup qualifiers in Johannesburg from Aug. 9-17.
Kenya Lionesses head coach Felix Oloo says the team needs to get away from their chaotic environment and routine to focus on winning the ticket to the World Cup, which will be hosted in New Zealand in 2021.
"Funds allowing, we will like to train in South Africa before the Africa qualifiers," said Oloo on Wednesday in Nairobi.
Kenya will be up against Madagascar, South Africa and Uganda in the first ever qualifiers organized in the continent. There is no established ranking of women rugby in Africa in the 15s rugby.
The four teams were chosen on the basis of the level and frequency of play of the female players. Each team will play three matches on three different days and a points classification will be established.
The winner of the tournament will qualify directly for the World Cup whilst the second best team will play a match against a selected team from South America and join the global repechage tournament if victorious.
"If Kenya qualifies for the World Cup next year in New Zealand, World Rugby will organize a high-performance training camp to further polish their skills," said Oloo.
The team will in the meantime get a chance to gauge their preparedness for the Africa qualifiers when they travel to Kampala for the second leg of the Elgon Cup against hosts Uganda on Saturday.
Kenya won the first leg 44-13 and the coach is adamant there will be no room for complacency and must be on the offensive from the start.
"We are all about attack and score as many tries as possible. I believe the girls can play better and we will be seeking an improvement in the second leg," Oloo noted.
"It's a good opportunity to test ourselves before we go for the qualifiers. We want to get a game or two under our belts so as to be fine-tuned for the qualifiers."
The coach has shaken the line-up brining in seven new players to the team that beat Uganda in Nairobi a fortnight ago. Millicent Opala will make her first appearance together with Winfred Maina, Winnie Owino, Anne Njeri, Victoria Gichure and Diana Awino.
"It is the best team for the moment and they will be up to the challenge. I want to build team cohesion and different patterns of play," said Oloo.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont says the women's rugby has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade.
"Women's rugby continues to grow with over 2.4 million women playing at all levels, accounting for more than a quarter of players globally. With Women's Rugby World Cup attracting record crowds and broadcast audiences in each of the last three tournaments - Ireland 2017, France 2014 and England 2010 - I am in no doubt that the 2021 tournament, the first to be held in the southern hemisphere, will continue this record breaking trend," he said. Enditem
