S. OchiengBlow for Kenya Simbas as Fijian ace Jone Kubu is ruled out of Repechage tourney
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 23.10.22. | 17:30
The injury to Kubu means the team will head to the tourney in Dubai without their first and second choice fly halves.
The men’s national rugby 15s side Kenya Simbas have been handed a massive blow in their lead up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final Qualification Tournament (The Repechage) slated to take place from 6-18 November 2022 in Dubai as the team is set to travel without their first and second choice fly halves.
This is after the team manager Jimmy Mnene confirmed that Kabras Sugar’s Fijian ace Jone Kubu had been ruled out of the travelling squad set to depart the country next weekend after picking up an injury in the in-house friendly played on Saturday at the RFUEA Ground.
Big blow for Kenya Simbas who will be heading for the Repechage (4 Nov) without their first and second choice fly-halves.
— Ochieng' Stephen (@soo_ochieng) October 23, 2022
Fijian ace Jone Kubu picked up an injury yesterday in the in-house friendly while Dominic Coulson is committed with school work in the UK.#KenyaSimbas pic.twitter.com/w0gRzY7qsj
The news confirmed on Sunday morning came as a blow to the team hoping to grab the last remaining ticket available to the World Cup as first choice flyhalf Dominic Coulson, who started all the matches in the Rugby Africa Cup, had already been ruled out of the team due to school commitments in the United Kingdom.
"It is obviously tough for Kubu having sustained an injury to his left wrist during the training match on 22 October 22. Management of the injury has commenced and we shall monitor his progress. As a technical team lead by Paul Odera, we shall walk the journey with him.
I am not 100 per cent sure in terms of what date he will return to training and return to play would be but I know he is out of the Simbas Repechage campaign. I wish him all the best in his recovery,” Mnene confirmed.
In their absence, the Paul Odera coached side will be forced into other options such as Menengai Oilers’ Geoffrey Ominde, KCB's Brian Waihinya, Homeboyz youngster Amon Wamalwa, who is yet to receive a call up to the senior side, among others.
The Simbas, who missed out on direct qualification to the 2023 Rugby World Cup after finishing second in July’s Rugby Africa Cup following their loss to Namibia in the final, have been in residential camp for the past week as part of their final preparations and played the friendly on Saturday to assess themselves.
In Dubai, Kenya are set to face USA, Portugal and Hong Kong in the four-team tournament, and the eventual winner of the tournament will be the final team to join the Rugby World Cup 2023 adventure where they will take their place in Pool C alongside Wales, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia.
