Safaricom Sevens 2010

By Michael Kwambo

Hosts Kenya overcame a slow start to  sail into the main cup quarter final of the 2009 Tusker Safari Sevens after winning their three pool “A” matches without ever shifting out of gear one.

They began with a 22-5 win over South Africa’s Hamilton Raiders before turning on the style in a 48-0 demolition of neighbours Tanzania. With quarter final qualification already assured, Kenya went on to register the day’s highest score, annihilating Japan 56-0 in a match that they dominated from start to finish, never allowing the Japanese to get a whiff of the Kenyan try line.

The resilient Allan Onyango opened the floodgates when he scored barely two minutes into the match. Lavin Asego’s conversion saw Kenya take a 7-0 lead. Captain Humphrey Khayange powered through the Japan defence to touch down. Asego missed the conversion as Kenya led 12-0. Innocent  Simiyu scored Kenya’s third try right from the restart with Asego converting. Kenya 19 Japan 0.

Gibson Weru and Khayange scored two tries in quick succession as Kenya went into the interval with a healthy 29-0.

The second half saw Collins Injera, who had been a largely anonymous fellow in the first half , getting drawn into doing what he does best, scoring tries. He raced past his marker to open his account in this particular game. Asego missed the conversion. Kenya 34 Japan 0.

Substitute Leon Adongo piled on the misery,scoring soon after his introduction into the game. Kenya 39 Japan 0.

Injera and Simiyu completed their braces before Khayange crowned his evening by completing his hat trick. Asego converted to give Kenya a comfortable 56-0 win.

Kenya’s other representative teams, Shujaa and Chairman’s Select registered mixed results. Shujaa bowed out of the main competition, dropping down to the bowl category where they face Zambia in the quarter final.

Chairman’s Select are still in contention for the main cup, courtesy of two wins and a loss that saw them finish second in pool “B”. They registered a 29-14 win over fancied Samoa but finished second in their pool, setting up an all Kenyan quarter final clash against …sounds cliche…Kenya. it should be an interesting match.

Sunday’s action starts at 10.00am when Japan play Uganda in the opening bowl quarter final.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Bowl Quarter Finals

Japan v Uganda : 10.ooam

Bristol v Morocco: 10.20am

Shujaa v Zambia: 10.40am

Les Bleu Sevens v Tanzania: 11.00am

Bowl Quarter Final losers drop down to the Shield Semi Finals to be played later in the day

Main Cup Quarter Finals

Kenya v Chairman’s : 11.40am

Zimbabwe v Samurai: 12.00pm

Emerging Boks v Grenoble: 12.20pm

Samoa v Raiders: 12.40pm

Main Cup Quarter Final losers drop down to the Plate Semi Finals to be played later in the day

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