Fresh from winning the Elgon Cup for a fourth successive year, national men’s rugby 15s team, Simbas, face Zambia in a Victoria Cup match at the Diggers Rugby Club in Kitwe, tomorrow.
The four-team Victoria Cup has been revived after a seven-year absence to fill the void left by the cancellation of this year’s Africa Gold Cup. The tournament is being contested by Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia on a home and away basis.
With Simbas having faced Uganda two times this year, their Elgon Cup meeting doubles up as a Victoria Cup tie and the two East Africa nations will play four matches.
For Simbas captain Peter Kilonzo, the return of the Victoria Cup will go a long way in developing the young players who have recently been inducted into the senior team.
“These (Victoria Cup) games will help stabilise the squad which is a blend of youth and experience. The young players should get enough game time at the big stage and despite the Gold Cup having been cancelled, I am glad we still have enough matches to keep us engaged,” Kilonzo told Standard Sports before the team left for Zambia on Wednesday night.
In Zambia, Simbas face a side that is reeling from a 39-10 loss to Zimbabwe in their opening match of the competition in Harare last weekend and Kilonzo hopes his side can build on their Elgon Cup triumph to beat the Zambians who are coached by former international Lawrence Njovu.
“Zambia might be ranked lower than us but that should not be a reason to underrate them. We want to go there, play according to our systems and hopefully, get a good result,” the KCB centre-half said, adding that playing in unfamiliar territory won’t inconvenience the Simbas.
Perhaps, he went by the maxim, 'a serious coach should not change a winning team'. And it’s for this reason that Kenya have opted to keep faith in the squad that beat Uganda in Kampala two weeks ago. Kilonzo is set to partner with Kabras Sugar’s Johnstone Mung’au in midfield.
Oscar Simiyu, Toby Francombe and Melvin Thairu have received the nod to start at front row as Simon Muniafu pairs Malcolm Onsando at second row.
After facing Zambia, the Paul Odera-coached Simbas will head to Harare to face Zimbabwe next weekend before they host the return legs on August 24(Zambia) and September 21(Zimbabwe).
