Kenya Win Bowl in Wellington

Published on 09 February 2014

Kenya Rugby

The Kenya Sevens team won the Bowl at the Wellington Sevens rugby tournament but their gradual decline in the IRB World Sevens Series continued.

Paul Treu's charges collected eight points from their 24-14 victory of Scotland in the Bowl final but dropped down one place to eighth with 47 points.

Kenya reached the Plate final at the Gold Coast Sevens then lost in the Plate semis in Dubai and South Africa before losing in the Bowl final at the Las Vegas Sevens.

Skipper Collins Injera led from the front, touching down a brace of tries for his total of five tries in Wellington as they beat the Scottish, winning every match on the final day. Injera’s feat brought his all time tally to 176 tries in the Series and is now placed fourth behind Santiago Gomez Cora (Argentina) 230, Ben Gollings (England) 220 and Fabian Juries (South Africa) 179.

"It feels good, after our day one, it wasn't quite what we wanted,” said Injera adding that they were focused and wanted a clean run on the final day to salvage some pride after a disastrous opening day. Kenya lost 12-24 to Samoa and 0-24 to Australia, only beating Tonga 40-7 to go into the Bowl.

“It is different this year, we just need to keep adapting and ticking the boxes. If we do we will come a long way. It is why I am in the team, I still have the strength and speed to do it," explained Injera.

Oscar Ayodi, who also scored five tries in Wellington, orchestrated Kenya’s ascendancy with a powerful run down the left flanks, catching the Scots napping. Injera increased the tally, getting in on the act to glide over in the pouring rain.

Darren Gillespie then finished a fine quick passing move, running in on the angle. Struan Dewer replicated a minute later and the Scots were back on parity. Right at the hooter, Injera then backed his chip and charge and went over.

Kenya hit hard and there was finally a breakthrough when Horace Otieno finished a brilliant passing move under the posts for the victory.

Earlier they proved too strong for France in their semi-final with Daniel Sikuta scoring two tries in their 24-7 win while Alex Glashan scored a hat-trick as Scotland booked their place in the Bowl final by beating Wales 28-0.

In the quarters, Oscar Ouma and Injera both scored twice in Kenya's 34-0 defeat of Portugal.

Treu has work on his hands as he tries to create a formula that will instil confidence in his squad. True’s fielding has also been in focus as it has lacked consistency.

Source: www.nation.co.ke