Kenya seek to redeem themselves against South Africa and Wales in Las Vegas

By BEN AHENDA

KENYA: Kenya has been grouped alongside South Africa, Wales and Canada in Pool A in the third round of the HSBC International Rugby Board(IRB) Sevens series  in Las Vegas,  United States of America from January 24-26.

The Kenyan team expected to jet out to US tomorrow, will be seeking to go past group stages to redeem their image in the IRB series that enters the fourth round in Las Vegas, USA.

Kenya has not made it to the semi-finals of the Main Cup competition in the past three editions of the IRB circuit.

According to fixtures released by IRB, the pooling is relatively balanced and all top ten teams in the IRB rankings are expected to get to the second round of the Main Cup after the group stages.

World champions New Zealand are in Pool B alongside Fiji, Australia and Scotland, while Pool C has Samoa, Portugal, England and Uruguay.

Pool D has Argentina, France, hosts United States of America and Spain.

Kenya Rugby Union will be leaving nothing to chance in their quest for best results in the US and the subsequent tournaments according to chairman Mwangi Muthee.

Muthee said they have a team of experienced players who have attained a high level of fitness.

He stated that there is need to improve on performance from players who are in the safe hands of former South African tactician Paul Treu.

“There is need to improve on our performance with the large pool of experienced players. It is not about who is in or out of the team but the spirit of togetherness as we up our game,” he said.

Kenya tie in seventh position with Samoa on 32 points in the IRB Sevens rankings after the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia, Dubai Sevens and Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

South Africa lead the series with 58 points followed by South Africa 56, Fiji 48, England 40, Australia 34 and Argentina on 33 points.