By BS MULAVI
The Kenya National Sevens Rugby team suffered an off day at the Glasgow Sevens.
The side lost 17-14 to South Africa in their first game and followed it up with a 28-0 loss to Samoa in the second game, which dashed their hopes of making it to the Main Cup quarter-finals on the second day.
Head Coach Mike Friday is sure to give the team an earful after both losses were marred by massive mistakes which could have easily been avoided.
Even though Kenya played somewhat better in the first game, their second game against Samoa was an eye-sore that had fans gritting their teeth at the number of mistakes made by the side.
Kenya seemed to have applied grease to their hands before the game, as they could hardly catch a ball without letting it slip down for a knock-on. Simple passes could not be completed by the team and this gave Samoa an easy time in the game.
Many mistakes
Each time Kenya had the ball, they ended up making a mistake, hence giving away penalties and starving themselves of possession. Samoa remained composed and utilised the number of times Kenya lost the ball to score four tries for the game to end at 26-0.
Kenya could hardly win their own set pieces and at one point, they lost their own ball from the line-out deep in their half, which saw Samoa pounce on it with the instinct of a predator to score their third try of the game.
Friday opted to use all the players at his disposal by making numerous substitutions but even that did not help the situation, with the new players entering the game and following suit with the rest of the team.
Work harder
Friday will have to work some magic to relax the players if they are to return to their usual lethal selves. Scotland has always been a bogey ground for Kenya, but the side still has a chance to recollect on the second day and win the bowl for some much needed points.
The side currently holds 77 points and have a target of 100 points at the end of the circuit. That means Kenya will have to come up with 23 points from the Scotland and England leg. If they can pick up eight points by winning the bowl in Glasgow, then they will remain with 15 points to win in England.
That would mean they will simply have to reach the semi-final of the England leg to attain their target. But that is only if they win the Bowl in Glasgow. Meanwhile, South Africa topped the pool by beating Kenya 14-12 and Canada 17-14 before meeting with Samoa in their last game of the day.
