Kenya 7s face tough Friday in Hong Kong
What you need to know:
- USA, England and Wales to test the rejuvenated Kenyan team’s resilience in IRB World Series event.
- Kenya is currently placed 12th in the Series with 29 points but must finish among the top 10 teams to avoid relegation next season.
Revenge will be on the minds of Kenya Sevens players on Friday as they open their campaign at the Hong Kong Sevens against Mike Friday’s USA from 2:38pm.
Kenya will then wrap up their Pool D fixtures against England and Wales on Saturday at 6:12am and 10:14am respectively.
Kenya coach Felix Ochieng was Friday’s deputy during the 2012/2013 season before deputising South Africa’s Paul Treu for the 2013/2014 season.
Kenya has twice lost to Friday this season, 5-12 in Dubai and 5-33 at Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens, South Africa, which was Treu’s last task for Kenya.
Kenya beat USA 25-5 at last season’s London Sevens preliminaries on their way to a 14-38 loss to South Africa in the Plate final.
Kenya has lost twice to England and Wales this season. They went down to England 0-38 and 12-21 at the pool stage in Dubai and USA respectively. They lost to Wales 19-24 in Gold Coast and 5-29 in South Africa.
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With their chance of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics through the World Rugby Sevens Series gone, Ochieng’s focus now is to guide the team from the relegation zone.
Kenya is currently placed 12th in the Series with 29 points but must climb into the top 10 during the remaining four legs to avoid relegation next season.
Kenya started the season poorly but would reach their first Cup quarters in Wellington before winning Bowl final in USA.
Now Ochieng hopes to build on the momentum gained from the last two legs as he welcomes back former skipper Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera into the team.
“We are doing catch up but our opponents have been together for a long time. There have been great improvements in the last two legs but we need to build on that for consistency,” said Kayange.
