NAIROBI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's rugby sevens top scorer Collins Injera will miss the start of the World Series circuit, having failed a fitness test ahead of next week's Dubai Sevens.

Despite shaking off a shoulder injury picked in October in Nairobi, head coach Paul Feeney said Injera will not be risked for the Dubai debacle as he is about 85 percent fit.

"Injera is doing all the non-contact training. We are not going to risk him for the first two legs," said Feeney on Thursday.

It means Kenya will have to compete without Injera in both the Dubai and Cape Town legs of the World Series.

Feeney is hopeful that Kenya will make the tournament's quarterfinal stage in the Main Cup. The coach has retained the 12-man squad that secured Olympic qualification by winning the 2019 Africa Men's Sevens in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier this month.

"We want to make the quarters in Dubai. To do that we have to knock out South Africa, England and Spain," said Feeney.

Captain Andrew Amonde has asked his side to be consistent and focused in the first two legs in Dubai and Cape Town.

"Our main focus is to get it right from the beginning in Dubai. We are looking forward to a good tournament," said Amonde.

Kenya will kick off their Pool D fixtures at the Dubai Sevens with a clash against South Africa on December 5, before resuming action on Friday against England and Spain.

For the women's team, coach Felix Oloo believes his team's participation at the Dubai and Hong Kong Sevens will boost the country's prospects at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Oloo has made only one change from the team that qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in October during the Africa Women Sevens tournament, bringing in Enid Ouma for Janet Owino.

Kenya are in Pool C of the International invitational women's competition alongside France 7s Development side, Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix, Belsevens and Aruka Queen Kumagaya. The Dubai Sevens are to be held from December 5 to 7 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"We have our focus on the Olympics and the Hong Kong Sevens, which will serve as the qualifier for the core status for the World Series."

"It's great to have Michelle Omondi back in the team as well as Enid Ouma, who is up for her sevens debut. The competition for a spot in the team is strong and the players are hungry for the game," Oloo said on Thursday.

"The team will have fully acquired the ability not only to compete with the internationally recognized teams, but also to do extremely well as per the modern day International Sevens standards," added the coach. Enditem

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