Kenya Rugby Sevens in flying start

The Mike Friday era got off to a good start as Kenya made it to the semi finals of the 2012 Gold Coast sevens held in Australia this past weekend.

Kenya’s play was a vast improvement from last year. The support play which was completely missing last year has vastly improved. Kenya players appear more physically fit and stronger  and as a result are more confident in contact situations.

Kenya started off day one with a match against England. It initially looked like the same old Kenya as England dominated the 1st half going up 14-0. But Kenya came back storming in the second half to tie  the game by scoring two tries via Davis Chenge and Dennis Ombachi who ran the length of the pitch for Kenya’s 2nd try. Both tries were converted by Biko Adema. In the 2nd game, Kenya were only a conversion of tying Samoa who beat them 14-12. Kenya’s tries came via Collins Injera and Oscar Ouma.

Against Spain, it was Collins Injera who opened the score when he raced down the sideline from inside his own half to score for Kenya to lead 5-0 after just a few minutes. A minute later Injera intercepted a loose pass and races away again for his second try of the match. Biko Adema scored the 3rd try after an Injera pass and Oscar Ouma added the 4th try as Kenya won 26-12.

On day 2, Kenya faced hosts Australia who were in high spirits after topping their group with a shock 15-14 win over Fiji. The Ozzie media blasted sensational headlines suggesting that this would be the year the Aussies finally win at home. But they came up against a Kenyan juggernaut that had other ideas.Kenya ran away 21-14 winners with tries from Collins Injera, Oscar Ouma and Dennis Ombachi.

The Australians were left shell shocked.

An article from the Sydney Morning Herald said “Stunned Australian sevens captain Ed Jenkins looked like he had been lapped by Kenya’s Olympic 800m sensation David Rudisha as he vainly chased Dennis Ombachi, who sealed the 21-14 upset in the cup quarter-final.” The Kenyans rank a lowly No.39 in the world in Test rugby where they slot in behind Sweden and Moldova, yet at sevens their athleticism and speed in open spaces is magnified

In the semi finals Kenya lost 15-5 to New Zealand and went down 41-7 to South Africa in the 3rd place playoff.

Oscar Ouma and Collins Injera finished amongst the tournaments top try scorers with 5 and 4 tries respectively. Injera is now 4th in the all time list of try scorers and is the highest amongst active players. But it was an excellent team effort with most of Kenya’s tries coming from well executed passing phases.

Kenya’s excellent performance landed them an easier group at the Dubai sevens where they are grouped against Fiji, Scotland and Spain.