Results of Kenya Rugby Full Internationals

Kenya could only manage three tries and a conversion. Earlier they took the lead 12-10 after coming from behind 10-0 down with tries from Dennis Mwanja and Ronnie Mwenesi with David Ambunya converting.

In their first match of the newly introduced tournament, Kenya won with an emphatic scoreline of 55-27, while Hong Kong thrashed hosts United Arab Emirates 72-14 on Saturday.

The win now sees Kenya moving up on the IRB World Rankings table from39th to 35th.

It all happened in the second half when all the systems crumbled and allowed Hong Kong to regain the lead and win. Perhaps it all boiled down to better conditioning by Hong Kong in the second half as they dominated the forwards and broke through Kenyas backline.

One of the senior players in the team summed up the performance thus:

We had a very good first half but I think they came out technically better in the second half. At half time, Kenyas instruction from coach Michael ‘Tank Otieno was to continue mounting pressure and play in the opponents half.

This did not happen as Hong Kong played the game tight and Kenyas kickers did not have the initiative for delivering tactical kicks which could have kept Hong Kong on the back foot. It was Hong Kong who were quick off the starting blocks scoring two quick tries to lead 10-0.

Dennis Mwanja then crossed the chalk line after some good mauling by the Kenya forwards. Another good play by the forwards saw Ronnie Mwenesi over for the second. David Ambunya converted for the lead to change hands 12-10 for Kenya at half time.

Hong Kong who had a very good sprinkle of expatriate players came back strongly in the second half dominating in the pack and playing on the face of their opponents who appeared worn out from a gritty first half.

Our backs did not get any quality ball, the player said. In a pre-match interview, Edward Kinyany, Kenyas assistant coach had hinted that they would play an expansive game by using the backs.

The game which was shown live by SuperSport saw Hong Kong score off Kenyas mistakes in the second half.

There were lapses of concentration and missed tackles which summed up a bad second half for the Africa champions who had climbed to a 35th place in the rankings after the win against Brazil. Scrum-half, Peter Mutai who was substituted scored Kenyas third try. On Friday, Kenya plays against the hosts United Arab Emirates.

Kenya is now set to face the UAE on Friday for their third match of the tournament.

The tournament, a joint initiative of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union and the UAE Rugby Association, is the first tournament of its kind involving teams from three continents and fulfils the need for all four nations to play more Test matches.