Kenya Sevens hammer Japan to finish third in Dubai

France player gives Kenya Sevens' Daniel Taabu a hand-off during their semifinal match of Emirates Invitational Sevens on April 3, 2021 at the Sevens Stadium. Kenya lost 17-5.
Photo credit: Pool |

What you need to know:

  • France had earlier on halted Kenya’s dream of reaching the final when they humbled Shujaa 17-5 in the semi-finals.
  • Kenya Sevens will now look forward to an improved performance in the next leg due Friday to Saturday this week.

Kenya hammered Japan 31-14 to finish third in the first leg of the Emirates Invitational Sevens on Saturday at the Sevens Stadium, Dubai.

France had earlier on halted Kenya’s dream of reaching the final when they humbled Shujaa 17-5 in the semi-finals.

Kenya Sevens will now look forward to an improved performance in the next leg due Friday to Saturday this week.

Argentina, who beat Japan 24-5 in the semis, would humble France 19-7 in the final to win the first leg.

It was the Pumas' third consecutive victory after they claimed the first and second legs of Madrid Sevens last month, beating Kenya  21-14 and 45-7 respectively in finals.

Daniel Taabu’s try failed to inspire the Kenyans against France in the semi-finals after the two sides shared the spoils 19-19 in the preliminaries on Friday. Kenya had beaten Canada 21-19 in the quarterfinals.

Japan’s journey also ended in the semis where they fell to Argentina 24-5 in the tournament that is sanctioned by World Rugby mostly for teams that are preparing for Tokyo Olympics Games due July 23 to August 8.

Luck continued to evade Kenya Lionesses, after they lost all their matches. They went down 43-0 to France in their last match. They lost to Brazil 17-5 and France 31-12 Saturday a day after they lost 15-14 to Spain, 45-7 to France, 38-5 to Canada and 19-14 to Japan.