Kenya Lionesses will head to residential camp mid-this month at Moi Stadium, Kasarani as they intensify preparations for the WXV tournament in Dubai in October.
Head coach Dennis Mwanja said the team has been undergoing non-residential training for the last two months.
“The residential camp will be addressing various facets of play as well as looking at our strength and conditioning as well getting the girls to bond,” observed Mwanja. He said the team will play a friendly match in September in Dubai courtesy of World Rugby.
"We don't know the identity of the opponent but World Rugby have organised the match which is vital. Most of the time, we lose matches in tournaments because we don't play build-up matches to boost the squad," he added.
The KCB assistant coach said they are working to improve several facets of play including defence patterns, ball handling, and the attack shape.
“From the tournament, we played in Madagascar in May, there are certain areas we have to get right if we want to win matches in the tournament in October," noted Mwanja
The Lionesses face Colombia, Fiji, Ireland, Kazakhstan and Spain in Dubai from October 14-28 and the tactician noted that they have started analysis on the aforementioned teams.
“We are looking at their strengths and weaknesses to see where we can put them under pressure and at the same time we ensure we do not give away of points,"
The former Kenya Sevens international said he has 47 players for both the WXV and Africa Sevens championship which will act as the Olympic qualifiers to be held in Tunisia.
“It's delicate balancing for the tournament. The Sevens qualifier will be played on October 14-15 and the bulk of our backs will go to Tunisia which leaves us in a very tough situation," said Mwanja
Mwanja had asked Rugby Africa to postpone the Sevens tournament to give Lionesses ample time to prepare for the WXV.“ We asked the union to plead our case but it has fallen on deaf ears," he said.
WXV is a new three-tier annual global women’s international 15s competition that is intended to revolutionise the women’s international rugby landscape.
For the first time, the event will provide a meaningful pathway for all unions and a competitive springboard toward an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup in 2025.
