Kenya to renew rivalry with Singapore 7s opponents at Twickenham Stadium

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent NamcosSimiyu is looking forward to an exciting but competitive penultimate round of the HSBC World Sevens Series, London Sevens, at the iconic Twickenham Stadium, this weekend.

Shujaa, who are currently sixth on the overall standings with 93 points, headline Group C in a repeat of the Singapore Sevens preliminary round fixtures that saw them fall 19-28 to England before thrashing France (34-0) and USA (33-14) respectively.

But to ensure they finish the season on a high note and even surpass their 100-points mark target, the former national sevens and fifteens teams captain, has challenged his charges to approach their opening two matches with the seriousness they deserve.

The East Africans will begin their London 7s campaign today at 1.48pm with a clash against Mike Friday's USA, whom they are tied on points before taking on France at 4.48pm and wrap it up later tonight (8.16pm) against hosts England.

"We have a very strong squad and we are well prepared for the final two legs. Our key focus will be how we start in London, meaning that we have to hit our performance standards very early," said Simiyu.

"We are in the Group of death but it is very vital to start with a win against USA. The most important is to perform well in game one despite the result. If we perform well and win in the opening match, it will help us relax a bit. It will give us a good platform to tackle the next two games."

Though Simiyu is relishing the prospects of playing England in what could be a decisive match in their own backyard, he is confident of a good outing.

"It will be good to play England in London but the boys have a duty to do first against USA. Hopefully, when we play in England we don't want to be playing for qualification.

I know the boys will be ready for that and it will be a very good game to play England in the final game of the day," he said. "There is a possibility of us finishing in the top five but if we don't get the result we can either finish seven or eight.

But I think after these two weeks, we will see how it went and where we lie.

"But Kenya will have to do without the services of utility player Dennis Ombachi, who reportedly miss a flight to London. Kenya's London Sevens timings today Kenya v USA (1.42pm) Kenya v France (4.48pm) England v Kenya (8.16pm)