By Bs Mulavi

Adam Field of Wales (right) is tackled by Leonard Mugaisi of Kenya in their semi-final during the second day of the Sevens World Series rugby tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last weekend. [PHOTO: AP]

It was a woeful second day for the national Sevens team after they succumbed to a 19-0 loss to New Zealand in the Main Cup quarterfinal, before a humiliating 52-5 loss to Fiji in the Plate semi-finals of the Cell C Nelson Mandela Sevens series.

Kenya was lifted by their first day performance in Port Elizabeth for the third leg of the International Rugby Board Sevens circuit, but all their hard work was overshadowed by their second day losses.

Even though Kenya showed a spirited performance against New Zealand, they simply could not break the solid defence by the defending overall circuit champions.

Kenya displayed some great defence in the first half against the Kiwis, but a loss in concentration in the dying minutes of the first half saw them go down 7-0 at half-time.

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New Zealand came back stronger in the second half and even though Kenya came out strongly in unit defence, they missed one-on-one tackles, which cost them dearly.

So draining was the game against New Zealand that by the time they played against Fiji in the Plate semi-final, they were a pale shadow of their usual self.

Fiji were reduced to six men after a dangerous lurch at Biko Adema in the first half, but Kenya could not take advantage of the extra numbers to beat the Dubai champions.

Eight massive tries

From the onset, Fiji dominated in possession and made Kenya have to attempt many tackles, majority of which they missed, allowing the Fijians to score eight massive tries to not only dent Kenya’s hopes of finishing on a high, but also kill their morale after such a big loss.

Kenya simply could not match the Fijians in the contact area and even when they had the ball, they failed to take it forward and lost it cheaply in the rucks.

Kenya’s performance on the second day is sure to get them an earful from head coach Paul Treu, who displayed his frustration visibly from the touchline as the boys kept missing tackles and failed to stick to the game plan.

After three legs of the circuit, Kenya has shown some sense of consistency by reaching all Main Cup quarter-finals, but they have also shown some stagnation given they have been unable to make it to the semifinals of the Main Cup and have also been unable to lift Plate trophies.

Treu will have his work cut out ahead of the fourth leg in the US at the end of January. 

–briansagala@gmail.com