Sevens team ready to engage top gear

RUGBYU-SEVENS-KEN-NZ Samuel Oliech (L) of Kenya tackles Beaudein Waaka of New Zealand on day one of the USA Sevens Rugby tournament, part of the World Rugby Sevens Series, March 3, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. / AFP PHOTO / David BECKER

Oliech optimistic of a top ten finish as Kenya seeks to defend Singapore title

Top performance   Oliech optimistic of a top ten finish as Kenya seek to defend Singapore title

Shujaa kick off title defence against Argentina this morning.

 

Kenya Sevens full-back Sammy Oliech believes a top-ten finish is still a realistic target in the 2016/17 HSBC Sevens World Series.

Shujaa, who finished seventh overall in the 2015/16 HSBC Sevens World Series on 98 points, has had a rough season this year.

The team is currently ranked 11th with 47 points from seven legs after being relegated to the Challenge Trophy six times in a row.

But as the team takes to the pitch this morning (6am EAT) to start their Singapore Cup defence against Argentina in a repeat of last year’s semi-finals, Oliech is optimistic of repeating the historic exploits at the same venue.

Kenya went on to stage a brilliant performance to stun fancied Fiji 30-17 and lift their first ever Cup title in the World Series event.

“Of course top ten finish is still a reality for us. But it all depends on how the last three legs including Singapore goes for us.

“We need to work together and take out all the energy in all the remaining legs,” said Oliech.

“We have not been making the quarter-finals in the last few legs. It’s clearly a challenge, but we are determined to get to the quarters.

“It is unfortunate, we have been losing concentration in the last few minutes, but those are some of the things we have tried to rectify during our training sessions.”

Just like Oliech, captain Andrew Amonde, hopes the eighth leg can be their turning point.

“I think we’re in a very good place – we played very well in Hong Kong but we’re hoping to do what we did last year in Singapore. It was about determination last year and about focusing on what we needed to do,” Amonde said.

After the Argentina clash, Kenya will battle with Australia at 9.22am (EAT) before wrapping up their Group C fixtures against Samoa at 12.56pm.

Speedster Collins Injera scored a last minute penalty drop ball for Kenya to beat Argentina 15-12 in the inaugural Singapore Sevens semis last year.