Kenya on Saturday moved up to the sixth spot in the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series rankings at the end of the New Zealand International Sevens at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.
After an inspired run on the opening day, Kenya edged out Wales 10-7 to reach their only third main cup semi final in the Serie’s 10-year history.
Kenya was outclassed 26-0 by the eventual NZ Sevens winners, England, but collected 12 points from the tournament.
On departure, Kenya had budgeted for 18 points in the two tournaments in New Zealand and USA and are well ahead of schedule going into San Diego.
The talking point of the two-day tournament which was marked by several surprise wins was Kenya’s 22-17 upset of the top seeds and Series leaders South Africa in a Pool A match on Friday.
Rugby fans from USA, among them former players Fred Absaloms, Ernest Waweru and Leslie Mango, said Kenya’s performance only whetted the appetites of their fans in the USA when San Diego hosts the fourth tournament on February 14 and 15 at PETCO Park.
Big day
In an interview with IRB Sevens Radio, captain Humphrey Kayange put the win over South Africa in perspective.
“It’s a very big day for us. Started well, went bad in the second game and the boys really raised it in the last game and look where it took us,” he said
“It’s a big victory for us, there were three teams that we hadn’t beaten and South Africa was one of them so it’s a milestone, something we’ve reached, achieved on this tour.”
Coach Benjamin Ayimba admitted having harsh words for the players after narrowly losing 14-19 to Scotland in a Pool A match.
Early pressure in the quarter-final against Wales saw Allan Onyango’s claim for a try denied in the second minute because the ball was held up. From the resultant scrumdown, Collins Injera stole on the blindside to score.
His brother, Kayange pounced on a lucky bounce to race over for the second try. Although Aled Thomas scored and converted a try for Wales, Kenya held on to win before crumbling 0-26 to England in the semis.
A dashing run by Isoa Damudamu which ended in a try saw England complete a remarkable comeback to beat hosts New Zealand 19-17 for their first ever NZI Sevens title.
SOURCE: DAILY NATION
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