Kenya Sevens battle France in Paris

What you need to know:

  • Shujaa will then take on Spain in their second Pool C match a 4.38pm before wrapping up against England, who are the South Africa and Canada Sevens champions, at 8.26pm.
  • Shujaa have met France and England four times each where they edged out the Frenchmen twice in USA and Hong Kong.

Kenya Sevens face an uphill task when they tackle hosts France at Paris Sevens, the penultimate leg of the 2016/2017 World Sevens Series at 1.12pm Saturday at Stade Jean Bouin.

Shujaa will then take on Spain in their second Pool C match a 4.38pm before wrapping up against England, who are the South Africa and Canada Sevens champions, at 8.26pm.

Shujaa have met France and England four times each where they edged out the Frenchmen twice in USA and Hong Kong but lost to the Britons on all occasion in Wellington, Sydney, Canada and Singapore.

In their last outing in Hong Kong, Kenya humbled the Frenchmen 29-12 but the win failed to rescue them as they dropped to Challenge Trophy where they lost to Scotland 24-19 in the final.

England rallied from behind to beat Shujaa 13-12 at Singapore Sevens Cup quarterfinals, a defeat that ended head coach Innocent Simiyu’s hopes of defending the title won by his predecessor Benjamin Ayimba last year. It also shattered their hopes of reaching their first Cup semi-finals this season.

At last year’s Paris, France halted Shujaa’s charge to the Cup semis, beating them 24-5 before the Kenyans ended their campaign in Plate semis after losing to Australia 26-7.

The best run for Shujaa, who are currently placed 11th with 57 points, was in Cape Town where they finished sixth after losing to Fiji 33-21 in the play-off for fifth place.

Their second best show was in Singapore where they wound seventh after losing to New Zealand 24-21 in the play-off.

Simiyu made only one change to his squad from the previous legs of Hong Kong and Singapore, replacing injured Collins Injera with Darwin Mukidza, who is making a comeback after is debut with Kenya Sevens in Dubai and Cape Town.

“Mukidza is up to the task since he is good in attack, open play and high balls. His physicality is quite good, having had an outstanding season and league final where he led his club side KCB to the title,” said Simiyu.

The 29-year-old Mukidza not only guided KCB to Kenya Cup league victory against Kabras Sugar but also emerged the top-point scorer in the league with 226 drawn from 11 tries while the rest are kicks.

“The club needed me most but I am glad we went through the season successfully,” Mukidza “I should fit in Injera’s shoes well, having tested the stage in Dubai and Cape Town.”

Virimi Vakatawa makes a return for France, who are after home glory. Vakatawa, who missed Hong Kong and Singapore legs due to injury, returns to sevens following a stunning set of performances in the 2015-16 series.

France will be without talisman Terry Bouhraoua and Pierre Gilles Lakafia but will be hoping to impress the fans on home turf.

South Africa, who are 25 points ahead of Fiji with England a further two points behind in third, take on Singapore Sevens champion Canada, Scotland and Japan in Pool A.

South Africa failed to reach the final for the first time this season in Singapore, but should they reach the Cup decider or lift the silverware in Paris, then they would only need to take the field at Twickenham next weekend to secure a second series crown and first since 2009.

FIXTURES

Kenya v France-1:12pm; Kenya v Spain- 4:38pm; England v Kenya-8:26pm