Rugby: Kenya and South Africa to renew their continental rivalry

By PHILIP ORWA and IRB

KENYA: African sides Kenya and South Africa will renew their continental rivalry in the fourth round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Las Vegas on January 24-26.

The draw was announced yesterday by the International Rugby Board (IRB) with the Kenyan side lined up once again with Pool A leaders South Africa as well as Wales and Canada.

Paul Treu, the current Kenya coach, is a former South Africa tactician.

In the just-concluded Cell C Mandela IRB Sevens, Kenya was pooled together with the South Africans.

They have reached the quarter-finals at each of the previous rounds in Australia, UAE and South Africa, and currently lie seventh on the log with a total of 32 points.

The draw was conducted just before the Cup final of the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay SA Sevens, won by South Africa amid jubilant scenes.

Meanwhile, Kenya Under-19 trials will be held today in Kisumu and Kakamega at 9am.

The venue for the Kakamega trials is the Kakamega Showground while in Kisumu, the trials will be held at the Kisumu Polytechnic grounds. The Nakuru trials will be held at a later date.

Port Elizabeth runners-up and Series leaders, New Zealand, face a tough Pool B featuring Fiji, trans-Tasman rivals Australia and Scotland.

Following their brilliance in Gold Coast, the Australians have struggled over the past two weeks in Dubai and South Africa and will be looking to bounce back.

Resurgent Samoa will enjoy their usual strong support in Las Vegas and face Portugal, England and Uruguay in Pool C.

Samoa and England played one another in the groups in South Africa and England coach Simon Amor will be looking to reverse the result from this past weekend which saw his side drop to the Bowl.

Santiago Gomez Cora and his Argentina side will play France, host nation USA and Spain in Pool D.

Argentina have been superb over the past two weeks, winning the Plate in Dubai and finishing fourth in South Africa.

Elsewhere, reviving emotional memories of Nelson Mandela’s great sporting gesture, South Africa beat Kiwis in another rugby final on Sunday.

The South Africans won’t care a bit that the Sevens game is less prestigious than the 15-man World Cup they famously lifted with the help of Mandela in 1995, as they came from 14-0 behind on Sunday to beat their old foe 17-14.   

––porwa@standardmedia.co.ke