NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will play big shots South Africa, Uganda and Madagascar in the new women's World Cup qualifiers in August in Johannesburg.
Kenya's director of women's rugby, Moses Ndale, said here Friday that the four teams are at par in strength and it is a wide open group with each team having equal chances to sailing through to the global event.
"The pool is wide open. Hosts South Africa are just getting back on their feet in terms of 15s rugby. We have played Uganda before and Madagascar are an unknown quantity," said Ndale. "Kenya has a strong squad and we want to make in-roads in the women's 15s rugby. The team can deliver the ticket."
Kenya must exploit the chinks in their opponent's defense to seal the sole ticket to the World Cup, which will be held in New Zealand in 2021. It will be the first Women's Rugby World Cup in the southern hemisphere.
New Zealand won their fifth Women's Rugby World Cup in 2017 after they beat England 41-32 in a pulsating final in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Now Kenya is seeking solid preparation to boost their chances of making the final cut and secure the ticket to New Zealand.
The team that tops the pool qualifies for the World Cup directly while the second place finisher heads to the repechage, which will take place in 2020.
The tournament will comprise of the second placed teams in the Asia, Europe and Oceania regional tournaments and the winner of the play-off between South America and second-placed team from the Africa regional qualifier.
Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 is the ninth edition of the tournament.
