After Elgon and Victoria, CAR

What you need to know:

After victories over Uganda and Zimbabwe in the Elgon and Victoria Cups, Kenya’s 15s squad awaits a huge challenge.

It would be mean to take it away from the side that is on the verge of sprouting from the shadow of the sevens success, hauling comprehensive away victories.

Kenya beat Cranes 33-24 for the first time in seven years at their home turf and went on to crush Zimbabwe 21-18 for the first time in Harare since they first met in 1981. Kenya had won 11-10 and 21-5 at home.

With the celebrations from their achievements yet to fizzle, the 15s now turn their focus to next month’s Confederation of Africa Rugby (CAR) Cup qualifiers in Namibia where they are up against 2011 Rugby World Cup-bound Namibia, Cameroon and Uganda in Pool B in Windhoek.

The victors will join Pool A winners Morocco and Zimbabwe, who prevailed in Pool C for the November CAR Cup final that will also have best runners-up from the three regional groups.

The Kenya Rugby Union will have to wake up from slumber as the 15s team has won against the odds.

“Our training looks horrible with lack of training kit and tracksuits. It is like we are from different countries,” says head coach Michael “Tank” Otieno. “The union improved on the conditions after we voiced our concerns but all that players need is motivation and a bit of care.”

He attributes his team’s great performance to astute teamwork and the hunger for the desired results.

The restructuring of the season by starting and completing the Kenya Cup followed by the Bamburi Rugby Super Series before embarking on the national assignments also paid handsome dividends.

Otieno said: “The team was picked much earlier and we had no conflict between clubs and the national team management.”

BRSS played a big role in preparing the players for national duty and the championship can only be enhanced by including higher-rated teams, especially from Southern Africa.

Under-19 launch campaign

Meanwhile, the Under-19 national rugby team launches its 2010 Junior Rugby World Cup campaign on Saturday against Uganda in Cote d’Ivoire. The week-long qualifiers, which double as the U-19 CAR Cup, also features the hosts, defending champions Zimbabwe, last year’s finalists Namibia, Zambia, Tunisia and Morocco.

Kenya lost to Namibia 3-29 in last year’s semis in Nairobi but Namibia went down 7-39 to Zimbabwe in the final. The championship winner qualifies for the Under-20 Junior World Rugby Trophy, from where the victor joins the Junior Rugby World Cup.