Las Vegas 7’s: Billy Odhiambo tipped to shine

Rugby Sevens circuit returns this weekend in Las Vegas USA. Kenya’s very own Billy Odhiambo alias ‘Billy the Kid’ has been tipped as the man to watch on Saturday and Sunday. He tops in all 16 countries participating in Las Vegas Sevens as the person likely to cause an upset during the event.

After four legs - Dubai, Cape Town, Wellington and Sydney Sevens, Billy leads the performance tracker with 47 tackles, 23 breaks, 19 offloads and 85 carries totaling to 174 surpassing Englishman Dan Norton at the close of Wellington Sevens in January. He is now 13 points clear Norton.

‘Odhiambo has got crazy power all round’ read a tweet posted by the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series. The way he fights and surges his way forward past his opponents, the young man clearly shows great skill and strength. He helped Kenya earn two points in Sydney early last month.

Oscar Ayodi rejoined his teammates who left on 25th February after a recall by head coach Innocent Simiyu after missing the two previous campaigns- Wellington and Sydney.

The whole squad to represent Kenya in Las Vegas and Vancouver Sevens include Andrew Amonde, William Ambaka, Daniel Sikuta, Frank Wanyama, Bush Mwale, Sammy Oliech, Eden Agero, Leonard Mugaisi, Nelson Oyoo, Augustine Lugonzo, Oscar Ayodi, Billy Odhiambo and Collins Injera.

Nevertheless, the team left the country without Strength and Conditioning coach, Ian Gibbons who left the position on 20th February 2016, amid claims of bad blood between him and the Kenya Rugby Union.

Eric Ogweno and Francis Bugonko are the Team Manager and physiotherapist respectively.

The Shujaas will face Russia, Argentina, and New Zealand in pool C. The first match Kenya will face word’s number four New Zealand 4.15 a.m. on Saturday Kenyan time.