KENYA WILL QUALIFY for the Rugby World Cup for the first time in their history if they can avoid defeat against Zimbabwe tomorrow.
Wins over Namibia and Madagascar in the past week at the Confederation Africaine de Rugby Africa Cup Division 1A tournament have left the East Africans close to their greatest achievement in the 15-a-side game.
There are a number of permutations involved if they lose, but a win or draw for Kenya would guarantee qualification into Pool C of the World Cup, alongside New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Georgia.
“Qualifying would mean an awful lot to Kenya, the team and our fans, who are amazing. It would be like a dream come true to play New Zealand in the Pool stages and face the Haka; it is something that we dream about,” centre Humphrey Kayange told the IRB.
We have come close a couple of times in the past, but we came into this tournament aiming to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015 and we have the chance to do that on Sunday.”
31-year-old Kayange is a star on the sevens circuit for Kenya, who enjoy status as a core nation in the IRB Sevens World Series. Indeed, the 6ft 6ins, 106kg back was nominated for World Sevens Player of the Year in 2009.
Kayange’s 15-a-side teammates Andrew Amonde, Patrice Agunda, Collins Injera, Michael Agevi and Davis Chenge have all prospered for the Kenyan sevens team, once again underlining the value of the shortened-numbers code in developing players for union.
Head coach Jerome Paarwater deserves major credit for his role in improving The Simbas [Swahili for The Lions] too, having originally joined on a volunteer basis before being granted a full-time position in 2013.
The South African’s coaching spells with Western Province and Italian outfit Viadana in the Heineken Cup have given him a tactical and technical knowledge that combine perfectly with the Kenyans’ undoubted athletic ability.
Involvement in the South African Vodacom Cup [the third tier beneath Super Rugby and the Currie Cup] has been vital, with a Kenyan team competing in the competition this year under the moniker ‘Simba XV’.
There are now close to 30,000 people playing rugby in Kenya, with the KRU having joined the IRB in 1990. If the national team can secure a spot in the World Cup, that figure could well grow vastly in the coming years.
Tomorrow’s opponents Zimbabwe still have a chance of topping the table, despite a 24-20 defeat to Namibia. Furthermore, the Namibians – who have been at every World Cup since 1999 – can mathematically still finish first by racking up a bonus-point win over host nation Madagascar tomorrow.
Kayanga and Kenya are focused on their own processes though, the same ones that have led them to the brink of rugby history.
We played well in the first two games, getting two wins, which puts us in a good position heading into the final round of matches,” says the Mwamba clubman.
“Zimbabwe are a big team who will come at us hard and the key for us is composure, to keep focused and to ensure that we get the points that we require.”
Watch Kenya v Zimbabwe live on the IRB website at 11.00 Irish time tomorrow. Namibia v Madagascar kicks off at 13.00.
