Another poor show for Kenya 7s in London after three defeats

KCB's Elphas Artur jumps over Blak Blad player Douglas Bengi during their Christie 7s match at RFUEA Ground yesterday. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya Sevens poor show at the World Rugby Seven Series continued yesterday at the London Sevens after two defeats saw them knocked out of the Main Cup quarterfinals.

Shujaa lost their opening Group B match to Ireland 17-14 before their fate was sealed by current series leaders Argentina who thrashed them 26-0.

In the first match, Shujaa trailed 5-0 at the break after Aaron O’Sullivan breached the defence on the left wing to give the Irish the slender lead before Edmund Anya restored parity 5-5 early in the second half. Anthony Omondi converted for a 7-5 lead.

The Irish regained their lead after speedster Jordon Conroy scored a try that Mark Roche converted for a 12-5.

Arcadius Khwesa scored with seconds on the clock after fending off two defenders outside Ireland’s 22-metre and crossing the whitewash under the sticks. Omondi successfully converted the try for 14-12 lead.

However, Kenya conceded a penalty in Ireland’s half from the restart which their opponents capitalised on to score the winning try through Terry Kennedy.

Kenya then suffered a 24-21 defeat to South Africa in their final Group match.

Shujaa head coach Damian McGrath said there is still a lot of work to be done to get Kenya back to where it belongs.

“We have been giving away cheap possession and dropping the ball a lot and first we need to work on retaining our possession. It is still a long way to go and work in progress,” said the Englishman who replaced Innocent Simiyu two weeks ago.

Locally, Christie Sevens defending champions KCB, Strathmore Leos, Homeboyz, Mwamba and Kabras Sugar secured Main Cup quarterfinal berths after winning two opening matches in their respective groups on the day one of the second leg of the National Sevens Circuit at RFUEA Ground yesterday.

Fresh from winning the Kabeberi Sevens circuit last weekend, the Dennis Mwanja led outfit started their second circuit title hunt with a 19-5 victory over their Group A opponents Kenya Harlequin before thrashing JumiaPay Pirates 33-7 to qualify for the quarters with a game in hand.

Kabeberi 7s runners up Strathmore also went on a scoring spree with huge wins against Blak Blad (34-0) and Impala (36-0) as Homeboyz demolished Catholic Monks 49-10 and Western Bulls 14-12 to reach the last eight.

Kenya Cup champions Kabras Sugar maintained their dominance in the ‘Rai Derby’ after humiliating Menengai Oilers 36-7.

The sugar men who struggled last week seems to have found their footing avenged the defeat to Masinde Muliro University by beating the students 14-12.

Christie Sevens continues today with quarters, semis and finals lined up.