National rugby teams Shujaa and Kenya Lionesses are now ready for Commonwealth Games action after the World Sevens Series outing in Hong Kong last weekend.
The women team Lionesses will be the first to test Club Games action as they take on New Zealand at 9:53am tomorrow.
The two Kenyan teams posted mixed results last weekend.
While Shujaa bagged a second consecutive silver medal after losing again 24-12 to Fiji in the finals, the Kenya Lionesses failed to earn qualification to next season’s World Sevens Series after falling 12-7 in the semi-final to continental rivals South Africa.
Both teams have been drawn in relatively tricky groups as they strive to win medals for Kenya at the Club Games.
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Unlike the men’s tournament, where only the top ranked teams in each of the four groups will qualify for the semi-final, the women have an advantage of sending two teams from each group.
After the Group A match against New Zealand, Lionesses will take on Canada at 12:15am.
Kevin Wambua’s charges will then hope to avenge their Hong Kong defeat to South Africa when the two rivals clash in what is expected to be an explosive group decider on Saturday at 5:27am.
The men’s action will start on Saturday morning with Kenya, who headline Group C, battling against Canada in the opening match at 3:15am before renewing their rivalry with New Zealand at 7:17am.
Shujaa will complete the preliminary round with a fixture against fellow African side Zambia at 1:27pm on the same day.
In Glasgow, Shujaa reached quarter-finals. In 2010, Kenya beat then reigning IRB sevens champions Samoa on day one but the rhythm changed dramatically in the second day when two players picked injuries. Meanwhile, a chastened Adam Peaty will look to channel his anger into hard work after the swimmer’s cloak of invincibility slipped at the Commonwealth Games.
There was more than a hint of fury in the Englishman’s sizzling breaststroke leg in Tuesday’s 4x100m medley relay, when he turned a chunky deficit into a lead for James Guy, only for Australia to out-touch them for gold.
But Peaty, who 24 hours earlier had been beaten for the first time in four years by South African Cameron van der Burgh in the 50m breaststroke, insisted he would use defeat to come back even stronger.
“Yes, 100 percent. The athlete in me is hungry for more and it’s kind of angry,” he said.
