BY BS MULAVI
The Kenya sevens team was quickly brought down to earth by a combative Scotland, losing 12-0 after the highs of a fourth place Hong Kong finish a mere six days ago. As witnessed in previous circuits where Kenya had performed well, they always seem to struggle in the immediate leg following the stellar performance.
This was seen in South Africa and Las Vegas. It is understandable to blame this lackluster performance on fatigue, but the professionalism introduced in the team this season makes one wonder why this is even an issue.
In the first match, Colin Gregor impressed in Scotland’s victory against Kenya, scoring the first and then turning provider with a wonderful kick for Darren Gillespie. Kenya responded well in their second match, defeating USA Eagles 21-10. Fatigue, after playing six grueling matches last week, meant it would always be a factor.
Kenya understandably after racing to a 14-0 halftime lead, started to fade in the second half. This allowed USA to score their points. The coach wisely called on his substitutes to close out the game. Horace Otieno added the urgency needed. His break past American’s defense line plus the intelligent use of the ball by Billy Odhiambo off the deck allowed Oscar Ouma to score the try that won the game.
Reflecting on the match, Mike Friday, Kenya’s coach confessed, “We are fighting for our lives here. We weren’t good enough in game one. A few issues in the contact area but I wasn’t happy with the effort and endeavor which I expect when you pull on the Kenyan shirt.”
“But we saw that in that match. If we win against Wales I think we will have done enough, but that last try by USA could be important.”
In the last pool match against Wales, Kenya only needed a win or draw to advance to the quarter finals of the main cup. Unfortunately, the same script was replayed, with Kenya starting strongly in the first half but slowly fading away in the second half.
Quick tries from Oscar Ouma and Sidney Ashioya pushed Kenya to an early 10-0 lead but Wales clawed their way back into the game, scoring two converting tries. At half time Wales led 12-10. In the second half Kenya barely got out of its own half, with Wales dominating most of the play.
Another three tries from Wales and a consolation one from Kenya’s captain Andrew Amonde led to the final score of 33-15 in favour of Wales. As Kenya prepares for the bowl competition, the team needs to do a lot of soul searching.
Mark Friday’s boys can beat anyone in the circuit, but the question which remains unanswered is whether they can do this consistently.
