RWC Qualifier: Kenya Team Preview

Four teams will take to The Sevens Stadium pitch on Sunday as the round-robin RWC 2023 Final Qualification Tournament, which will run until 18 November, gets underway.

At the end of the three match days in the UAE, the team on top of the standings will claim the 20th and final ticket to France.

But which teams head into the Final Qualification Tournament on form and who has the most Rugby World Cup pedigree? We give you the lowdown on each of the competing nations.

RUGBY WORLD CUP PEDIGREE

Like Hong Kong, the first tournament Kenya attempted to qualify for was RWC 1995, however, defeats to Zimbabwe and Namibia ended their hopes before a win against the Arabian Gulf.

The Simbas have entered qualifying for each Rugby World Cup since but are yet to progress to the showpiece tournament itself.

Kenya came close to qualifying for RWC 2015, putting themselves in a good position by beating Namibia only for defeat to Zimbabwe to ensure they missed out on both a ticket to England and a place in the repechage on points difference.

Four years later, defeat to Namibia in their final qualifier denied them direct qualification for RWC 2019. They had done enough to make the repechage but lost all three matches in Marseille, against Canada, Hong Kong and Germany.

WORLD RANKINGS SINCE LAST RUGBY WORLD CUP

Kenya have only played seven tests since the last Rugby World Cup, winning four, but have slipped one place in the rankings.

The Simbas were ranked 32nd at the beginning of November 2019, with 52.55 points, and three years later find themselves 33rd with 52.06.

This weekend, Kenya stand to gain as many as five places if they win their first meeting with USA.

FORM GUIDE

Kenya head into the Final Qualification Tournament in relatively good form, having only lost twice – both times to Namibia – in their last six matches.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, the Simbas did not take to the pitch between September 2019 and July 2021.

When they did return to the field, to begin their RWC 2023 qualifying campaign, Kenya suffered an agonising 20-19 defeat at the hands of Senegal, conceding the match-winning converted try in the final play.

Kenya recovered to get their qualifying campaign back on track with a 45-8 win against Zambia and ended the year with a training camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

While there, the Simbas took on both Namibia and Brazil, and led their African rivals 24-19 at half-time of their first match only to lose 60-24 as their opponents ran in seven tries after the break.

Again, the Simbas recovered and six days later, ran in five tries to edge a 66-point thriller, beating Brazil 36-30 at Markötter Stadium.

During July’s Rugby Africa Cup 2022 in France, Kenya beat Uganda and Algeria to set up a winner takes all match against Namibia. However, the Simbas’ hopes of securing direct qualification to RWC 2023 were ended by a 36-0 defeat in Aix-en-Provence.