Kenya Sevens in tough pool for Rio Olympics

Kenya Sevens have been handed a tough Pool ‘C’ at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Sevens rugby competition will run from August 9-11 at Deodoro Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

In their quest for a coveted Olympics gold medal, Kenya will come up against World champions New Zealand who are also Commonwealth silver medallists, England and Japan in a 12-team format.

Rugby is making a return to the Olympics since 1924.

Pool “A” has World Rugby Sevens Series champions Fiji, United States of America, Argentina and hosts, Brazil while Pool “B” has Commonwealth champions South Africa, Australia, France and Spain.

LOINESSES PLAY NEW ZEALAND

Kenya Lionesses have also drawn World Cup losing finalists New Zealand, France and Spain in Pool B” of their competition due for August 6-8 at the same grounds.

World champions Australia highlight Pool “A” of the women’s event that has USA, Fiji and Colombia. Pool “C” has Canada, Britain, Brazil and Japan.

The teams will be seeded after day one action which will pave the way for the knockout stage after two days.

However, Kenya Sevens deputy coach Paul Murunga has said his team has a good chance of topping Pool “C” in Rio, having beaten their rivals this season.

“We must take our chances and that means that we must beat Japan and England to have a good chance of reaching the main event before playing New Zealand in our last pool match,” said Murunga, who warned that the team must tread carefully in their first two matches.

“There will be no dark horses in Rio. One can say sevens rugby has no owners going by the many surprises that were seen in the 2015/2016 World Sevens Series,” Murunga explained, adding that his team can top the pool on a good day if the players believe in themselves.

Kenya has met New Zealand thrice, winning 22-0 in Las Vegas but coach Benjamin Ayimba’s charges lost to the Commonwealth Games silver medallists 0-36 in Cup quarters in Wellington and 17-19 in the pool stages in Paris.

Kenya lost to England 12-19 in the preliminaries in Dubai and 0-33 in Plate semis in Hong Kong but drew 19-19 in Cape Town. Kenya beat Japan 17-12 in bowl quarters in Dubai, lost to them 14-19 in plate semis at Las Vegas.

“You can only underrate your opponents at your own peril. There will be no room for mistakes in Rio, considering that it’s a 12-team format,” said Murunga.

Murunga said that already a squad of 18 has resumed training in readiness for Rio. The team will shift camp to high altitude training in Nandi next week.

“The players will benefit a lot from the altitude training. The playing surface at Nandi Bears club is the best in the country.”