NO HIDING PLACE FOR KENYA: Group opponents plot for Sevens rugby team's downfall in Hong Kong leg
Rugby
By
BS MULAVI
| Mar 26, 2015
Kenyan team huddle before the Sevens World Series game against American Samoa in Gold Coast on October 11, 2014. AFP PHOTO
There will be no hiding place for the national Sevens rugby team when the sixth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series gets underway tomorrow in Hong Kong.
The side has been drawn in a tough pool that has England, Wales and USA and all three sides have voiced their intentions to win all games in the pool.
England’s head coach Simon Amor has called in some reinforcements and says they have a much stronger side than the one that did duty in Las Vegas.
“It is great to welcome back a number of experienced players, like Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Dan Norton and Marcus Watson.
They were part of the squad that played in last year’s final in Hong Kong and even though they have had limited play time recently, their understanding of the tournament will be valuable for the young and new players such as Tom Bowen and Charlie Hayter,” said Amor.
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“The history and prestige that comes with the Hong Kong event makes it very special,” Amor added.
“The crowd is wonderful. They offer a really big lift for the players with a huge cheer when they run into the stadium. I know the players really thrived off that last year and we are very much looking forward to getting back out there,” he added.
On their part, USA are also feeling confident heading into the tournament.
“We are under no illusions how hard a group we find ourselves in at Hong Kong, with England as well as the resurgent Kenya, and a dangerous Wales team,” said USA coach Mike Friday.
“While we recognise we have the ability and capability to do well, we recognise we need to play with a relentless desire, remain grounded, and play with accuracy to our potential. We want to be in that Cup competition on the third day of the competition,” he added.
worked hard
Meanwhile, Wales’ Coach Gareth Williams is having similar thoughts; “The boys have worked really hard in training and we hope to put a few wrongs right for good results.
Our game against England kicks off the tournament in Hong Kong on Friday (tomorrow) and we’re genuinely excited with the group we are taking there,” he told the official Welsh Rugby Union website.
“It’s great to have the talent of Rhodri and Adam come into the group and we also expect Angus and Ben to offer something different. We also appreciate the regions for their co-operation in the release of their players,” he added.
At the same time, captains of all 28 teams set to compete in the HSBC Hong Kong Sevens have officially launched the event, which marks its 40th anniversary this weekend at the famous Hong Kong Stadium.
Sixteen teams will compete in the sixth round of the HSBC Sevens World Series with South Africa, who have never won in Hong Kong, defending Series and Hong Kong champions New Zealand, Fiji and Australia currently leading the way as the race for Olympic qualification continues.
Twelve regional qualifiers - two from each World Rugby region - will also compete for one place as an ever-present team on next year’s 2015/16 series with the winner of the qualifier replacing the bottom-ranked of the 15 current core teams at the end of the current series.
—Additional reporting from by irb.com