Struggling Kenya Sevens out to sign off in style
What you need to know:
- The Brazilians are yet to win against Kenya, having lost 7-27 in their last outing in Shield semi-final in Dubai.
Kenya Sevens take on Scotland as they hope of put behind a low-key season and sign off in style in the last leg of the World Sevens Series in London starting on Saturday at Twickenham Stadium.
The Pool C battle with the Scots, whom they met last at Wellington Sevens in February, gets underway at 1.12pm. They will then face hosts England at 4.40pm before wrapping up against the 2016 Olympic Games hosts Brazil at 7.24pm.
Kenya goes into the final leg of the 2014/2015 Series in London lying 13th with 38 points, having collected only five points from the previous event in Glasgow last weekend. It will be a tall order for Kenya to improve their standing since 12-placed Canada are on 50 points.
The going has been tough for Kenya since the start of the season where senior players boycotted training before Safari Sevens in September last year over disputed contracts.
South African Paul Treu, then head coach, would throw in the towel after the first three legs this season in Gold Coast, Dubai and South Africa, having served only one season.
Kenya has only reached one main Cup quarterfinals at the Wellingtons Sevens in February where they beat Scotland and Samoa 19-17 and 28-14 respectively in the pool stages. They lost to South Africa 5-12 in the Cup quarterfinals before bowing out in Plate semis to Australia 5-21.
It has been a tale of Bowl performances in South Africa, USA and Glasgow and Shield shows in Gold Coast, Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Kenya lost to Canada 5-24 in Bowl final in South Africa, battled to a 24-21 Bowl victory against Argentina in USA before losing to the same Pumas in Bowl semi-final 7-24 in Glasgow.
Last year, Kenya reached the Plate final in London before going down to South Africa 14-38. They had beaten USA 25-5, drew Canada 17-17 but advanced to the Cup quarters despite losing to Samoa 12-19. They failed to go past New Zealand, losing 5-12 in the Cup quarters but edged out France 28-19 in Plate semis.
Kenya and England have met thrice this season but the East Africans have failed to turn the tables on the Britons. They lost in the Dubai preliminaries 0-38, 14-21 in USA and 7-17 in Hong Kong. Kenya last beat England 26-21 at the Cup quarterfinals of the Las Vegas leg of 2009/2010 Series.
Humphrey Kayange, Collin Injera, Gibson Weru and Ben Nyambu touched down as Biko Adema converted thrice for the victory. Kayange, Injera and Adema will once again be facing the Britons on Saturday.
The Brazilians are yet to win against Kenya, having lost 7-27 in their last outing in Shield semi-final in Dubai.
Kenya v Scotland (1.12pm); Kenya v England (4.40pm); Kenya v Brazil (7.24pm)
Pool A: Fiji, Canada, Argentina, Samoa
Pool B: New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Japan
Pool C: England, Scotland, Kenya, Brazil
Pool D: USA, South Africa, France, Portugal
