Simiyu now focuses on sevens World Cup rugby
What you need to know:
- Simiyu added that after the last round of the IRB World Sevens Series in Hong Kong, the team had a fairly good amount of time to recover for Gold Coast but injuries scattered their plans.
- “The key for us after Hong Kong was the recovery of the players. We had a little bit of recovery but we were very unlucky with injuries."
- Meanwhile, the Kiwis completed a double as their women’s team edged out hosts Australia 17-12 to also take gold at the Robina Stadium.
IN GOLD COAST
New Zealand wound up the 21st Commonwealth Games sevens rugby competition in style with a gold medal performance by defeating Fiji 14-0 in the final as Kenya’s men’s and women’s team signed off in eighth and sixth place, respectively.
Innocent “Namcos” Simiyu, Kenya’s men’s coach, now sets his sights on the World Cup to be held in San Francisco, USA, in July.
He blamed a catalogue of injuries on his team’s inability to get into the medals Down Under.
Arthur Owira broke his leg, Collins Injera injured his right arm tricep, Samuel Oliech suffered a concussion while Willy Ambaka got a knock, adding to Kenya’s woes.
"We played average. We had a lot of injuries so getting towards end, just being able to play full games, we were happy just to do that,” Simiyu said.
“The Commonwealth Games were one of the highlights of the season. We've broken the season up into two halves. The climax of the first half is the Commonwealth Games and the second is the World Cup.”
Simiyu added that after the last round of the IRB World Sevens Series in Hong Kong, the team had a fairly good amount of time to recover for Gold Coast but injuries scattered their plans.
“The key for us after Hong Kong was the recovery of the players. We had a little bit of recovery but we were very unlucky with injuries."
Meanwhile, the Kiwis completed a double as their women’s team edged out hosts Australia 17-12 to also take gold at the Robina Stadium.
England took both bronze medals at their men’s team defeated South Africa 21-14, to add to their bronze in 2006, while the women’s side floored Canada 24-19.
Kenya’s women’s team “Lioness” edged out Wales 14-12 before succumbing 40-5 to Fiji to finish sixth with Kenya skipper Philadelphia Olando saying the experience here will hold them in good stead in upcoming African fixtures.
"We have so much room for improvement. We lost to Fiji, but we knew they would be tough.
“It's a great honour. We are going to be a part of history and we will go back to Kenya and prepare for the African Cup.
"We usually place first, second or third but this time we are going to focus on being number one."
The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games served up inclusiveness with the widest distribution of medals with 43 countries getting onto the podium.
