Sevens begin Commonwealth Games campaign
Sports
By
S MULAVI
| Jul 25, 2014
Will this be Kenya's chance to win their first ever rugby sevens Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games?
Ever since rugby sevens was introduced to the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia in 1998, Kenya has attended all four editions over the years where they are yet to win any medals.
They will, however, be leaning on the fact that they have been on an upward trajectory ever since they started.
The side were eliminated in the Bowl quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpar in 1998, Bowl semi-finals in Manchester in 2002, Bowl final in Melbourne in 2006 and finally plate semifinals in 2010 in New Delhi. Going by this trend they will be aiming for a podium finish in the tournament.
There are four members in the team that were also present in New Delhi four years ago including former captain Humphrey Kayange and his brother Collins Injera, who is now the current vice-captain, Andrew Amonde, who is the current captain and finally Biko Adema, who barely made it to the team, had it not been for Martin Mwila's missing his visa.
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Head coach Paul Treu is yet to propel the team to new heights after taking over the side this season and this is likely to be his chance for redemption. In a pool that includes his home country South Africa as our biggest threat, Treu will have to pull some magic from his hat.
South Africa finished the season on second place in the IRB circuit and have a superior win aggregate over Kenya in past encounters.
The two sides have met six times this season with South Africa winning five of those encounters and Kenya only beating them once at the Plate semi-finals of the Scotland leg of the circuit.
Even though the two teams have met numerous times in the IRB circuit, they have never met before in the previous four editions of the Commonwealth Games. Kenya will be hoping that the luck they had in Scotland in the IRB circuit will extend to the Commonwealth Games in order for them to top the pool.
Kenya, however, will still have to be wary of Trinidad & Tobago and the Cook Islands, who are the other two contestants in the pool. Both sides are non-core teams in the IRB series standings, but still have the ability to cause an upset when given the chance.
Saturday 26th July 2014
Kenya v Cook Islands – 1.16 pm
Kenya v Trinidad & Tobago – 9.52 pm
Sunday 27th July 2014
Kenya v South Africa – 12.10 am