Lock Simon Muniafu who was stretchered out of the RFUEA on the 24th of June 2016 will not be involved in international rugby this weekend. Although Muniafu is out through the unfortunate concussion in a match that Kenya played to a 33-33 full-time score against Uganda Cranes, Impala’s Leo Seje Owade has been drafted to start at inside centre, replacing Quins’ Patrice Agunda who has been the favourite in the past 3 international matches. Owade’s start maintains Impala’s numbers in the Kenya XV, which have been 4 in the last 3 matches the Simbas have been involved. On the flip-side, Impala’s numbers on the bench have been cut by 2 as James Kubasu never made it to the last 23 and Muniafu still has 4 more weeks of recovery in the sick bay.
Dennis ‘Daddex’ Karani, who carries a lot of experience, starts at tighthead prop. Erick Kerre proves to be a worthy asset at blind-side flank and has become a regular start donning the number 6 jersey.
Samson Onsomu, Impala’s scrum-half will be starting his 4th international match this year. Leo Seje Owade’s day is here! After starting the past 3 matches off the bench, he earns a start in Jerome Paarwater’s team to face Tunisia this weekend. The Australia based centre, who trialled for the Super Rugby Melbourne Rebels & ended up in the wider Melbourne structure is looking forward to cementing a position. In a past interview with our media team, he insisted, “My targets for when I first step on to the pitch is to keep it simple, do my job & do it well and be the best I can be. This will be pretty much my game plan & approach to my whole experience of Kenya XVs.”
The last time Kenya played Tunisia, the Simbas won 46-15.
This fixture is very important to the Simbas who need to rise out of position 4 (bottom half of the chart) in the Africa Gold Cup. Uganda, Namibia and Zimbabwe are in position 1,2,3 with 6,5 and 4 points respectively. Uganda has played 2 matches already, but Namibia and Zimbabwe have only played 1. Senegal and Tunisia complete the bottom half with 1 and 0 points respectively. Kenya and Tunisia have played 1 match each. Only Senegal has played 2.
