NAIROBI, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has named 11 uncapped players in their provisional squad of 31 to start training ahead of the Men's Africa Sevens Championship, which will be staged in Monastir, Tunisia on October 13.
Three top names that have been omitted include captain Oscar Ayodi, his deputy Oscar Ouma, who captained Kenya in the better part of last season World Series, and Samuel Ng'ethe. Meanwhile, Arthur Owira and Samuel Oliech are out injured.
With the head coach position still vacant, Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has opted to call the team early to camp ahead of next week's unveiling of the successor to incumbent Innocent Simiyu, whose contract expires next month.
KRU Chairman Richard Omwela announced the new team based on their exemplary performance during the national rugby circuit.
"Further to the 31, there are ten players from last season who are up for a performance review, as well as three players in the absentee selection list," said Omwela on Friday in Nairobi.
The squad is set to have their trials and initial assessment tests this weekend, after which the final squad will begin preparations for the 2018 Africa Cup in Tunisia. The competition comprises Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Kenya, Senegal, Morocco, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, and reigning champions Uganda.
Kenya will also use the Tunisia trip to gauge the players before returning home to compete in the Safaricom Sevens tournament in Nairobi from November 9 to 11, which will feature sides from Portugal, Namibia, Ireland, Wales, South Africa, Spain, the USA and Uganda.
In 2017, Kenya skipped that year's Africa Cup, held in Uganda. The tournament was then used as a qualifier for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, which Kenya had already qualified for owing to its top ranking in the World Series.
Kenya will use this year's tournament to gauge its preparedness ahead of the start of the World Series in Dubai in December. Last year, the team finished the World Series circuit with highest-ever points total of 104 under coach Simiyu.
