Kenya's rugby team coach eyes top three spot at Commonwealth games

Kenya rugby Sevens coach Benjamin Ayimba said on Thursday only a top three finish will satisfy him when the country plays in the Commonwealth games set for in Delhi, India in October.

Kenya is due to start training on Monday for the Club games and Ayimba is keen to transform his success at the International Rugby Board (IRB) seven series to some medals in India.

Ayimba told journalists in Nairobi that he will only add on two players to his current pool of 26 that has done duty for the last two seasons, to beef up the Commonwealth games team. The Commonwealth games start from October 4 to 14.

But before that, Ayimba intends to take the team for the Middlesex Sevens tournament slated for August 21-22 at Twickenham Stadium, London.

At the Club games, Kenya have been handed a tricky pool in the preliminary as they come up against IRB Sevens World Series champions Samoa, Cranes of Uganda and exciting Puk Puks of Papua New Guinea in Pool C.

"We won't be true to their goals if they were to project anything less than the medal bracket. We are not only aiming at the medal bracket but that crucial gold medal. It will be sad to fall outside the medal bracket since that will be like downgrading ourselves," said Ayimba.

Kenya won bowl at the 2006 Melbourne Games in Australia, stunning Tonga 26-12 in the final.

Ayimba noted that the bulk of the players for the Middlesex tournament will be drawn from the Academy and their performance will gauged ahead of the Club Games.

"Players for Middlesex will be those who were not regulars in the IRB Series since we want to expose them and find new talent," said Ayimba. "But 80 per cent of regulars Series campaigners will make the Commonwealth Games team."

Defending Commonwealth Games champions New Zealand are top seeds and in Pool A, where they will meet Scotland, Canada and Guyana. South Africa, bronze medallist eight years ago has been paired against Rugby World Cup Sevens champions Wales, Tonga and India.

New Zealand has won all three Rugby Sevens gold medals from 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006).