Kenya Enters Main Cup Quarters at the USA 7s Rugby in Las Vegas

By Mwakilishi | Sat, 02/11/2012 01:10PM -0400

Joy and jubilation marked the first day of the Las Vegas tournament of the International Rugby Board Sevens circuit as the National rugby Sevens team qualified for the Main Cup quarter-final.

Two impressive victories over bitter rivals Scotland 17-14 and underdogs Brazil 38-0 guaranteed head coach Mitch Ocholla and his troops a much valued quarter-final slot alongside elite teams like New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, and England, all of whom were also undefeated on the first day.

Kenya now remains with one fixture of the second day of the tournament today against England to determine who tops the pool and who they will meet in the quarters.

Playing like the side that reached the Sevens Rugby World Cup finals three years back, the team fought to an impressive victory over Scotland in their opening fixture, by dominating possession and keeping a tight seal in their defense.

Their only blunders came early in the game when they were unsettled and Scotland took advantage of a rushed tackle to build play up the field to score in the first minute, while the other was a missed tackle from Nato Simiyu in the dying minutes of the game.

The Impala flyhalf continues to struggle defensively as he approaches the contact position in an upright manner as opposed to going low and for the legs.

Even though he is an asset in attack, Ocholla will have to work a great deal with him to reach the standards required.

Former captain Humphrey Kayange was in fine form as he wore his new yellow boots to score a brace, while Collins Injera added the third to break the hearts of the Scottish.

Injera looks set once again to take the top try scorer gong in Las Vegas as he went on to score a hattrick against hapless Brazil.

It has been steady growth for the side since last weekend and things are now falling into place for Ocholla who enjoys his first Main Cup competition since he assumed the role of head coach at the beginning of the season.

In a deviation from the norm, in this year

Source: The Standard