Kenya 7s swat aside Uganda, Canada and Spain in Dubai tourney
Kenya's Billy "The Kid"Odhiambo evades a tackle from a Ugandan player during their Pool "Blue" match of the Emirates Invitational Sevens at the Sevens Stadium, Dubai on April 8, 2021. Kenya won 28-10.
What you need to know:
- Kenya will now face Chile in the quarterfinal on Friday.
- Kenya Lionesses managed to salvage a 10-10 draw against Japan after they had lost 22-5 to Canada and 31-5 to France in their opening two matches.
- The Lionesses had lost all their matches in the first leg last weekend.
Kenya Sevens launched their campaign at the second leg of Emirates Invitational Sevens strongly, winning all their matches on Thursday against Uganda, Canada and Spain at the Sevens Stadium, Dubai.
Kenya weathered the storm to edge out Spain 17-14 moments after brushing aside Uganda 28-10 and Canada 21-10 in their Pool “Blue” outing.
Alvin Otieno bulldozed his way in the left wing, beating the Spanish defence to touchdown the winning try for Kenya, who were trailing 14-12.
Jacob Ojee beat his markers on the right wing before cruising to open the scoring for Kenya as Daniel Taabu converted for a 7-0 lead.
Then Kenyan would recycle the ball well before William “Lomu” Ambaka sliced through the defense on the left wing to score at the far corner for a 12-0 lead but the Kenyans would allow Spain to plough back with a converted try. Kenya led 12-7 at the break.
Then some sloppy defending saw Spain score to take the lead 14-12 before Kenya claimed possession for some good exchange. Taabu would then put Otieno through on the wing, beating his marker before cruising all the way.
Kenya will now face Chile in the quarterfinal on Friday.
Kenya will be hoping to improve on their performance from the first leg where they finished third after beating Japan 31-14 in the playoff.
Kenya had lost to France 17-5 in the semi-finals, moments after they had drawn 19-19 with the Frenchmen in the preliminaries. France would lose to Argentina 19-7 in the final.
The Emirates Invitational Sevens is part of the World Rugby-sanctioned events geared towards preparing teams that are headed for Tokyo Olympic Games.
The first of the tournaments, Madrid Sevens, was staged in February this year where Kenya and Argentina reached the finals of the two-legged tournament.
Argentina prevailed in both occasions 21-14 and 45-7 respectively.
Meanwhile, Kenya Lionesses managed to salvage a 10-10 draw against Japan after they had lost 22-5 to Canada and 31-5 to France in their opening two matches.
The Lionesses had lost all their matches in the first leg last weekend.
