As if to prove that their stellar performance in the first leg of the IRB sevens in Australia was no fluke, Kenya improved from 4th position overall to 3rd position at the 2012 Dubai sevens.
Kenya finished second in group A with narrow hard fought wins over Scotland Span before loosing narrowly to Fiji.
There was a lot to celebrate as Kenya overcame a tough Canadian side that is quickly returning to the form that saw them remain consistently amongst the best sevens nations during the early part of this millennium. Canada had topped grouped D with wins over France, USA and a draw with Australia. In the semis Kenya went down to New Zealand before beating France 15-12 to clinch the 3rd spot.
Kenya fans have a lot to celebrate considering that Dubai has previously not been a happy hunting ground for Kenya. It also comes after coach Mike Friday tamped down expectations, telling Kenya fans not to expect Kenya to repeat the performance in the 2st leg.
However Friday seems to have worked his magic again. Kenya appears much better than in previous years.. Kenya are now ranked 3rd overall only behind New Zealand and Fiji and ahead of perennial powerhouses like England and South Africa.
1. Better defense.
Team Kenya is not missing tackles as often as they did in the past. And they have mastered the art of forcing turnovers at breakdowns. In the match against Canada for example, three superb try saving tackles, two by Ambaka and one by Injera saved what looked like certain tries by the Canadians.
2. Better fitness and physicality
Kenya are better conditioned than in the past. This can be seen in the ferocity with which they now approach breakdown situations. Collins Injera is no longer just a speedster. In addition to running around defenders, he can also knock them backwards as the Spanish winger found out 3 times at the Gold Coast sevens. Each time he was knocked by Injera, he went flying sideways like he had fallen from a moving matatu.
Then there is Willy Ambaka who is routinely running through brick walls and of course Horace Otieno ; when he is running with ball in hand, trying to bring him down is like trying to wrestle a Baobab tree into the ground.
3. Fewer turnovers and better game planning.
The error prone performances of the past have been reduced. Whereas in the past, Kenya casually kicked away possession, they now make good decisions with ball in hand. They work patiently until an opportunity to run opens up. Kenya have become very good at exploiting small gaps and turning them into yawning gaps. Willy Ambaka, and Oscar Ouma are the two explosive forwards Kenya has in the middle of the park who open up gaps for the speedsters out wide. Captain Andrew Amonde is adept at finding small gaps which he uses to slice open defenses to set up the speedsters out wide as he did when he set up Sydney Ashioya to score Kenya’s winning try against Spain.
4. Better support play and ball handling
Whereas last year Kenya runners were often isolated when they ran into space, now there is always a player running in support waiting for an offload. Kenya’s passing and ball handling has also gone up several notches.
