George Ooro: 'We’ll fight our way back to the Series'

Kenya co-captain George Ooro has emphasised that the Shujaa’s ambition of rejoining the HSBC SVNS Series is well and truly alive.

The 25-year-old’s comments came in the wake of his team’s third-place finish at the first HSBC SVNS 2 tournament of the season on home soil in Nairobi.

Over two days Kenya beat Canada, Belgium, Germany and Uruguay. Their only loss of the weekend came in their final match of the weekend against the USA.

Defeat in that game consigned Ooro and his teammates to third-place, the Eagles to second and gave Germany top spot on the podium.

“I feel good,” Ooro told Mozzart Sport. “Of course, we wanted to win the tournament, but in any competition, there are winners and losers. What matters is that we finished on the podium, which is important for us.

“We are not in a bad position; we are still in the top four, and we have two more tournaments to go. We just have to keep working hard. They (the USA) beat us, but we will address our weaknesses, and we won’t let our fans down.”

Ooro was quick to praise his team’s home support at Nyayo National Stadium.

He promised to continue the development of his team’s rucking and set piece, where he felt the team had “switched off” at times.

A finish on the podium is no bad thing. Finishing in the top four of the standings after further stops in Montevideo and São Paulo will secure a place at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux.

From there Kenya can stake a claim back on the HSBC SVNS Series at the first time of asking.

“The journey has only just begun,” Ooro said. “To return to the Series, we need to stay in the top four, and right now we are there.

“In the coming tournaments, we must maintain that position to reach the Championship. It’s not perfect, but it’s not bad either, and we promise we’ll fight our way back to the Series.”