- The Kenya Simbas will play against the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, May 24 at the RFUEA Grounds.
- This friendly will serve as a key evaluation platform, after which the squad will be trimmed to 33 players.
- The final squad will reconvene on May 26 for a brief pre-departure training camp before departing for South Africa on May 28 for a high-performance tour.
The men’s national rugby 15s team, Kenya Simbas, will begin preparing for the Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifiers with a match against the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, May 24 at the RFUEA Grounds.
The fixture is part of their final preparations for the Rugby Africa World Cup qualifiers set to take place in Uganda, Kampala from 6-20 June 2025.
A 50-man provisional squad has been locked in a training camp in Kakamega since May 11, where the players have been subjected to intensive conditioning programs and performance assessments.
This friendly will serve as a key evaluation platform, after which the squad will be streamlined to 33 players.
The final selection will reconvene on May 26 for a brief pre-departure camp before heading to South Africa on May 28 for a high-performance tour.
Head coach Jerome Paarwater affirmed that the friendly will be pivotal in determining the final lineup.
Our selection will come down to the match on Saturday. We want to see (if they have grasped) what we have taught them in camp in various facets of play and execution in their core roles. It’s important that the players understand what’s at stake,” Paarwater told The Star.
Paarwater is keen to capitalize on the experience of eight Kenya Sevens players who were integrated into the squad following their participation in the World Sevens Series.
People forget that likes of Vincent Onyala, Samuel Asati, Jone Kubu and John Okoth played for the Simbas in 2021 and 2022. They have experience playing at the elite 15s level. It’s a matter of adjusting to the environment,” he noted.
The coach expressed renewed optimism for the upcoming qualifiers, especially after a disappointing fourth-place finish in last year’s Africa Cup, also held in Kampala.
“We are better prepared. We will go to South Africa for six weeks, to play some of the top clubs and universities and expose our players to top-flight rugby which will benefit us in the qualifiers,” Paarwater added.
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Kenya Simbas South African tour structure
The South African leg of the Simbas’ preparations will be conducted in two phases.
- Phase One (May 28 – June 22): Held in Cape Town, in partnership with the Western Province Rugby Union, this phase will include Saturday matches against Currie Cup teams and midweek contact sessions with top-tier clubs and university sides.
- Phase Two (June 22 – 27): Conducted in Nylstroom, where the Simbas will train alongside the Blue Bulls. This stage includes Tuesday and Thursday clashes with the Bulls’ Currie Cup lineups.
The team is set to return to Kenya on June 27, hold a final training camp on July 1–2, and depart for Uganda on July 3 to begin their World Cup qualification campaign.
Their opponents in the qualifiers will include Zimbabwe, Algeria, Senegal, Uganda, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, and Namibia.
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