Kenya national women’s rugby team head coach Felix Oloo says his players must focus on the upcoming World Cup qualification matches in South Africa, despite having dominated neig*bors Uganda in the regional Elgon Cup.
Oloo says there are more challenging tasks ahead, and believes his side wi*l show well against Uganda, Madagascar and hosts South Africa to book their place at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand in 2021.
“What [the Elgon Cup] showed us was that Uganda have heavy forw*rds and they wi*l be out to display their defensive play again when we meet. However, we are well prepared for this encounter,” said Oloo on Monday in Nairobi.
The coach, however, w*rned against complacency from his squad and told them not to celebrate their win over Uganda in the Elgon Cup.
Kenya beat their neigbours 35-5 to win the 2019 Elgon Cup 79-19 on aggregate, after winning the first leg 44-14 in June in Nairobi.
“Our focus must always be on the Africa Women’s tournament in South Africa in August. We have four teams and that tournament wi*l double up as the 2021 Women’s World Cup qualifiers,” said Oloo.
Kenya wi*l play Madagascar on August 9 before taking on Uganda four days later and facing South Africa on August 17.
The winner of the tournament wi*l qualify directly for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand, while the runners-up wi*l qualify for a repechage tournament via a play-off against a side from South America.
“The easiest route to the World Cup is to win here in Africa. Going through the repechage is a taxing and hard road. It is better we hold our ground and clear this qualification hurdle at the continental level and build on it tow*rds the global championship,” Oloo added.
