National XV's coach Michael Tank Otieno has his work cut out for him over the next two months. With the sevens team out of the limelight the fifteens squad now have a chance to regain their shine.
The former Kenya fullback has a hard task starting with the two match build up against South African provincial side Mpumalanga Pumas. The last encounter between the two sides saw the Pumas ran away 101-7 winners.
The biggest blow is the injury to team captain Innocent Namcos Simiyu who is out for six months. Namcos injured himself in a Bamburi Super Rugby Series game two weeks ago. Tank has not been amused ever since. This year he has not been keen on the Super Rugby Series.
The captaincy has attracted several candidates with Victor Sudi the brother as frontrunner. Others in contention are Derrick Wamalwa, Neto Simiyu, Daniel Kiptoo and youthful Patrick Agunda. Tank is also keen to have Kenya sevens captain Humphrey Kayange in the team whom then he would bestow the captaincy with less controversy as he is already a respected player in the game.
Come next week Tank and his assistants Kinyany and Ngovi will be in the thick of things as they get the Kenya fifteens back in action. Kinyany is reported to have quit coaching his club Quins as he was appointed Vice Chairman of his club. He is following the footsteps of long time mentor Ham Onsando the former Uganda Coach.
A win against the South Africans would most welcome.
Go Kenya Go.
2 Comments:
so where is the story about tank getting down to serious biz. I think you just had an urge to write down something. "Namcos injured himself,bla,bla,bla ati Tank has not been amused over this." Why has he been attending every game? give us a real story,not so wishy washy speculative alarmist journalism. Chief, you really need to go back to the basics as that your name suggests.
an injury can happen anywhere, including training sessions for national team. while we wish Namcos quick recovery, this will also open opportunity for new players at the level. we need to build depth in all positions and nothing like being thrust in the deep end. potential replacements include Nyandigisi, Omuka, Kayange, Chwaki,
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