NAIROBI, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's 15s team will secure a top-two finish should they beat Tunisia here on Saturday in their penultimate Rugby Africa Gold Cup fixture.
The team, which is aiming to make its first ever appearance at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, has some injuries but head coach Ian Snook is hopeful they will overcome them and win against the North African side. Captain Wilson K'Opondo has been ruled out of the game.
"My injuries have taken a long time to heal but I remain positive and optimistic (that) I will be back on the playing field sooner than expected," K'Opondo said on Monday. Snook has since called in back rower Davis Chenge to lead the team.
"I'm very happy with their performance. (The team) has a lot of resilience, discipline and character and that's the kind of optimism we want marching forward, and hopefully the team shall maintain that consistency against Tunisia," the coach said. Kenya will wind up the Gold Cup against Namibia on Aug. 11 in Windhoek.
Namibia won their game last week against Zimbabwe to see their points tally rise to 20 while the Uganda Cranes beat Tunisia 67-12 for their first win this year. Uganda's next game will be against Morocco in Kampala on Saturday while Tunisia travels to Kenya. The Kenyan side is currently second on the log with 12 points.
This year's Rugby Africa Gold Cup serves as the African qualifying round for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The winners will earn direct qualification with the runners-up proceeding to a global repechage tournament in Marseille, France in November. The repechage tournament includes teams from Asia, the Americas and Europe.
