Kenya Sevens lose to Ireland in Hong Kong opener

Poor ball handling and turnovers proved costly for Kenya Sevens when they lost to Ireland 28-12 in their Pool “D” opening match of the Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday.

Billy “The Kid” Odhiambo landed twice for Shujaa but all was in vain as Ireland scored four tries to put away the match.

Odhiambo completed Kenya’s well-taken phases with a try but Anthony Omondi failed to but Shujaa’s lead didn’t last after Ireland staged a ferocious attack from restart resulting in Niall Comerford’s try.

Mark Roche converted for Ireland, who were Toulouse Sevens losing finalists, to lead 7-5 at the break.

Skipper Nelson Oyoo would suffer a knock-on after his eyes strayed from a pass. Ireland took advantage of the mistake with their skipper Jordan Conroy scoring the first of his brace of tries.

Roche converted for a comfortable 14-5 lead but Odhiambo would bring Shujaa back into the match with a try that Omondi converted this time around. Shujaa trailed 14-12.

The match slipped away from Shujaa's reach as Conroy sliced through the flat-footed Kenyan defence to complete his double.

Billy Dardis converted to stretch their lead to 21-12 before another defensive lapse gifted Jack Kelly a try. Dardis added the extras for their win.

Vancouver Sevens champions Argentina also launched their Pool “D” outing strongly, crushing Canada 36-0 with Marcos Moneta landing two tries in a match where they touched down six times.

Other try scorers for the Pumas, who led 26-0 at the drinks were Luciano Gonzalez, Matías Osadczuk, Agustin Fraga, and Tomas Lizazu. Santiago Vera Feld made three conversions.

Shujaa will confront Argentina and Canada at 6.25am and 9.45pm respectively on Saturday.