By BS MULAVI
Kenya lit up the Middlesex Sevens in England with brothers Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera helping Samurai win the title, while the Shujaa team reached the tournament quarter-finals.
Kayange and Injera spotted the Samurai outfit in the one-day knockout tournament, helping the select team to win their first ever title in the tournament’s 80-year-old history. Injera was instrumental in the event, scoring in the semi final and final matches.
The 2008/2009 IRB Sevens circuit top try scorer scored a brace in their 29-0 semi final win over British Army and went on to score a superb try in their15-12 victory over London Irish in the final. Samurai, which is dream team that comprises players from all around the world, was made up of players from Kenya, South Africa, New Zealand, Fiji and Portugal.
The brace for Injera against British Army could be interpreted as an act of revenge after it was the same Fijian team that was responsible for Shujaa’s exit from the tournament in the quarter-final stages. Shujaa were not so fortunate against British Army, going down 28-5 despite a spirited fight from the young side.
started brightly
Under the stewardship of Felix Ochieng’ and Newton Ong’alo, Shujaa started the day brightly by edging out Leeds Carnegie 19-12 courtesy of a brace from Nondies back row Gray Cullen. Cullen is slowly rising through the ranks and could be the figure to watch as the Sevens team looks towards the Commonwealth games and the new IRB Sevens circuit season.
The Shujaa team is expected home this morning with the technical bench satisfied with the talent they have exposed to top-flight rugby ahead of a grueling season. Speaking before the tournament, Ong’alo had stressed that Kenya has quite some depth and their performance in the tournament has proved that with a little polishing, Kenya might see a new crop of stars emerging to complement the already available squad.
