Shujaa harvests 10 points in the Hong Kong 7s leg
Kenya Sevens bagged ten points from the Hong Kong Sevens leg and took their season tally to 63 points despite falling to Fiji (12-10) and England (33-0) in the Cup quarter final and Plate semifinal respectively.
A last minute try by Savenaca Rawaca and conversion from Osea Kolinisau broke the hearts of Kenyans as Fiji stunned Shujaa 12-10 in a thrilling Main Cup quarter final match, at the Cathay Pacific-Hong Kong Stadium, yesterday.
Kenya went ahead to suffer a humiliating 33-0 at the hands of England in the Plate semifinals. Despite the two losses, Shujaa did bag ten points from the seventh leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series and take their points tally to 63.
Kenya have now been drawn in Pool C for next weekend’s Singapore Sevens, the eighth round of the 2015/16 World Sevens Series alongside continental rivals South Africa, Scotland and Russia.
Series leaders Fiji beat New Zealand 21-7 to retain the Hong Kong crown and go five points ahead of the All Blacks on the overall IRB standings.
Speaking after their defeat to Fiji, Shujaa head coach Benjamin Ayimba said they played very well, but luck was not on their side.
“What didn’t work as much as we tried is to keep Fiji in their half. However, they got away easier than we thought they would. We needed to put a lot more pressure and consolidate that lead we had, but it was very close to the end of the game,” said Ayimba.
“What we needed to do after the break was to become a little more clinical. We tried to play in their territory but it wasn’t working. Anyway, I am happy we at least managed to get some points.” He added.
Despite Hong Kong being a tough hunting ground for Kenya, assistant captain Collins Injera is of the opinion that lack of focus cost them against England.
“Hong Kong has not been a good venue for us, but coming here we really wanted to perform well. However, we had some few mistakes and just came short. We were not focused more so against England, we cannot just give away easy tries in such type of competition,” said Injera.
“But we need to build on the positives which was good defensive display ahead of this weekend’s leg in Singapore.” He added.
After a scoreless first half that pitted Fiji’s counter attack against a stout Kenya defence, Fiji star Kitione Taliga broke the deadlock with an unconverted try 43 seconds into the second half, but Kolinisau missed the conversion.
However, Collins Injera kicked and chased to score his 223rd IRB series try with Sammy Oliech successfully converting for Kenya to go 7-5 up as the wet conditions continued to shape the game.
Shujaa then forced Fiji into errors, drawing a penalty in front of the sticks with Injera’s successful goal attempt extending their lead to 10-5.
