IMPROVED FORTUNES: 15-points haul in Cape Town hoist Shujaa to high up IRB ranking
Rugby
By
BS MULAVI
| Dec 15, 2015
The Kenya National Sevens team jumped to ninth place on the overall World Rugby Series Standings after an impressive performance in Cape Town South Africa.
Kenya reached their first semi-final of the season, where they unfortunately lost to Argentina 26-24, before losing narrowly to France 28-26 in the third and fourth play-off.
This showing earned them fifteen vital points, taking their tally to 20 after they had also gathered five points from their Dubai campaign.
In what came as a surprise to many, there is now renewed hope in the team that had recently struggled to get back to the form of previous seasons.
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This might just be the injection in the arm they were hoping for as they are now ranked as top seeds for the next leg of the season.
Kenya leads a pool comprising Australia, Canada and Portugal for the third leg of the circuit, which will be in Wellington at the end of January. If they can replicate their form at the games, they will be sure to proceed to the Main Cup quarter-finals with their main competitor being Australia from that pool, even though both Canada and Portugal are not to be ignored.
The success will also be welcomed by coach Benjamin Ayimba who was fired acrimoniously in 2011 and is now back with the team after the exit of four coaches namely; Strathmore’s Mitch Ocholla, USA’s Mike Friday, South Africa’s Paul Treu and his former assistant Felix Ochieng.
Pundits have claimed getting to the semi-finals is the easy part but consistently contending at that level is the tricky part.
Ayimba is sure to use this opportunity to call for more resources for the squad. The renewed performance will also work well for the Kenya Rugby Union to approach sponsors.
Meanwhile, South Africa beat Argentina 29-14 in the final of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens. The result puts South Africa second in the series with 35 points behind Fiji (35), who won the Plate by beating the USA 29-19, on points difference. Mike Friday’s USA sit third (29), while Santiago Gomez Cora’s Argentina are fourth (29), also on points difference.
Samoa, who almost topped France and New Zealand pool on day one, ended the HSBC Cape Town Sevens on a high with a 40-5 win over Russia to lift the Shield.
“We’ve finished on the front foot,” said coach Damian McGrath. “I’m pleased with the performances, if not the results. We are heading in the right direction and this weekend has shown anyone can beat anyone.”