This was a must-win game for Kenya, as it would have given them a chance of a place in the Main Cup as two of the best places third teams.

Loose play within Kenya’s 22 was punished by Argentina’s Nicholas Bruzzone for a 7-0 lead. A Kenyan knock-on in Argentina’s half followed by a missed tackle saw Francisco Merello increase their opponent’s lead to 14-0 which they defended to half-time.

Handling errors continued to bedevil the Mitch Ocholla’s charges side on resumption and it was no surprise that Argentina were first to strike in the second half taking the score to 19-0 through a Gaston Revol effort. A late rally reduced the deficit to 19-7 after Collins Injera crossed the line but it was too little too late as Kenya was relegated to the Bowl competition where they meet France in the Semi-finals at 09:43hr Sunday.

Samoa's Paul Perez beat's Kenya's Oscar Ouma in Hong Kong/Photo/IRB/Getty Images

Samoa got off to a flying start courtesy of a Ken Pisi try taking a 7-0 lead but the Kenyans reacted with a minute later with  Oscar Ouma crossing  the line to level the scores. Collins Injera was then sin-binned and it was to prove costly as Samoa took advantage to stretch their lead for a 12-7 at half-time courtesy of Paul Perez.

Two minutes on resumption, a lost line-out was to prove costly for the Kenyans as Samoa stole the ball, stretching their lead to 19-7 via a try by Alatasi  Tupou and saw out the match without a change to the scoreline due to  a better defensive discipline than  their opponents who were unable to add to their first half tally mostly due to unforced  handling errors.

Samoa’s Uale Mai and Lolo Luiand Kenya’s Nato Simiyu converted their respective tries.

Kenya’s next match is 6:20am on Saturday against England.

Collins Injera will captain Kenya

Collins Injera will captain the Kenyan team to the sixth and seventh rounds of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Hong Kong from 23^rd to 25^th March and Tokyo,Japan from March 31^st to April 1^st. Oscar Ouma will serve as his assistant.

Speaking while naming the team, which includes five changes from the side that did duty during the Wellington and Las Vegas legs of the circuit , Head Coach Mitch Ocholla said, “ The changes have been occasioned by player unavailability and injury. We have selected this this squad best on a review in the period after our  last outing. Ben Nyambu has been in fine form for his club side Nondies, playing a pivotal role in their recent good run. Dennis Ombachi, whom we last saw at the Dubai and George legs of the circuit. He too has recovered from the injuries that saw him sit out Wellington and Vegas.”

“Felix Ayange, who had a great performance at our home tournament, the Safaricom Sevens, has fully recovered from a three month injury layoff and is good enough for the challenge ahead. Peter Ocholla, last in action during the Mosi Sevens in Zambia, brings experience, defense and that playmaking edge to the squad. Big Willy Ambaka, who sustained a hamstring injury in Dubai, has recovered well. We have been monitoring his performances at his club side Kenya Harlequins and feel he is good enough for selection. He is a big lad, and he is very much a part of our plans during our tour of Hong Kong and Japan.”

Commenting on Injera’s selection as captain, Ocholla said, “Collins is not new to leadership roles within the team, having already served as vice captain  in the previous rounds of this season’s campaigns .  He will hold the leadership mantle in the absence of Sidney Ashioya who is unavailable due to work commitments. Oscar’s selection as vice captain is down to a number of factors. At 22 years of age, he is one of that crop of emerging players, and like Injera, exhibits leadership qualities. “

Mwamba’s Lavin Asego also misses out on this tour due to work commitments.

Talking about the upcoming challenge in Hong Kong where Kenya has been placed with Samoa, England and Argentina in a competitive Pool A, Ocholla said, “ it is a very competitive, potentially physical pool. We had the upper edge when we drew 7-7 with England in Vegas. We played very well against Samoa in the cup quarters at the same tournament, but were unlucky to lose to them. Looking back, we have bridged the gap against them and will relish another go at them. As we head into Hong Kong, we will look to shore up our defence. We were potent on attack in Wellington and Vegas but got caught out once or twice on defence.”

Kenya Rugby Union Chairman, Mwangi Muthee, speaking at the same function, said, “ The Hong Kong leg will be tough  but this team is equal to the task. We respect our opponents but also want them to know that Kenya will be cup contenders.”

Kenya’s squad:

Collins Injera (Mwamba RFC), Oscar Ouma (Nakuru RFC), Benedict Nyambu (Nondescript RUFC), David Ambunya (UCT,South Africa), Dennis Ombachi (Mwamba RFC), Felix Ayange (Strathmore Leos), Horace Otieno (Mwamba RFC), Leon Adongo (Kenya Harlequin FC), Humphrey Kayange (University of Bristol, UK), Linus Nato Simiyu (Impala RFC), Peter Ocholla (Impala RFC), William Ambaka (Kenya Harlequin FC)

Non travelling reserves:

Michael Wanjala (Strathmore Leos), Biko Adema (Nondescript RUFC), Victor Oduor (Kenya Harlequin FC)

Management:

Mitch Ocholla (Head Coach),  Charles Cardovillis (Assistant Coach), John Mbai (Team Manager), George Odhiambo (Physio), Felix Ochieng’ (Performance Analyst), Geoffrey Kimani (Conditioning Coach)

Humphrey Kayange put Kenya ahead upon resumption, Simiyu converting to take the scores to 14-7 before David Ambunya put the issue beyond doubt, his try converted by Kayange to hand Kenya the 21-7 result and with it 13 more points that increased Kenya’s points tally to 26 as they moved to 12th overall in the latest standings after five rounds of the 2011-2012 HSBC Sevens World Series.

Kenya earlier beat Wales 22-14 in the plate semis after bowing out of the cup competition at the hands of eventual USA Sevens winners Samoa who edged them 19-14.

The team had earlier topped pool D, registering 17-14 and 38-0 wins over Scotland and Brazil before playing to a 7-7 draw with England in their final pool game.

Kenya will next be in action during the Hong Sevens and the inaugural leg in Japan that take place in late March.

Kenya celebrate winning the USA Sevens Plate title after beating Argentina 21-7. (Photo/IRB)

Kenya ended their Hertz Sevens campaign, the fourth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series on a high, beating Australia 12-7 to lift the Bowl title in Wellington, New Zealand.

It was Australia who  dominated possession for most of the half but i Kenya went ahead through Collins Injera in the fifth minute after being put through by David Ambunya and held on to lead  7-0 at half-time.

The Kenyan’s showed more urgency on resumption and Humphrey Kayange crossed within a minute to stretch the lead to 12-0. The Aussies put Kenya on the cosh for the rest of the half but resolute defending kept the score sheet intact until Con Foley scored with the last play of the match to make the score a more respectable 12-7

Their path to the final

En route to the final, Kenya beat Wales 17-7 in the semis. Humphrey Kayange’s kick early in the half created the now trade-mark Sydney Ashioya chase-pick-and-try for a 7-0 Kenya lead over Wales. Leon Adongo added a further try as the hooter sounded for a 14-0 halftime lead.

Two minutes into the half, Kenya won a penalty in front of the Welsh posts and wisely decided to kick for posts and duly increased its lead to 17-0 via Linus Nato Simiyu’s boot. Wales’ perseverance was finally rewarded when they breached Kenya’s defence through Mathew Pewtner with virtually the last play of the match for a 17-7 result in Kenya’s favour and a place in the Bowl final against Australia match

Kenya’s try conversions were made by Lavin Asego and his replacement, Simiyu.

Earlier in the quarters, Kenya dominated first-half possession and, despite pinning Scotland in one half for the entire period, were unable to breach the opponents defence, going into the break 0-0.

Upon the re-start, the continued dominance by Mitch Ocholla’s boys was finally rewarded following an overhead kick by Oscar Ouma that was latched upon by Sydney Ashioya who outraced the Scottish defence to give his side a 7-0 lead.

Patrice Agunda crossed the try-line seconds after the re-start but inexplicably dropped the ball as he attempted to touch-down.

Kenya continued to deny Scotland possession and it came as no surprise when Collins Injera scored his first of the day, increasing Kenya’s lead to 14-0. The Scots were however unwilling to go down without a fight and, with the hooter gone, scored a consolation try courtesy of Byron McGuigan for a 14-5 result. Lavin Asego’s boot was unerring, converting Kenya’s two tries

Kenya celebrating winning the 2011 Bowl in Wellington. They beat Australia 12-7 to retain the Bowl title at the 2012 Hertz Sevens, the fourth leg of the 2011-2012 HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington, New Zealand

Below is a summary of their day one matches.

Kenya 35 Australia 10

A completely new-look Kenya team containing seven faces that did not feature in the opening three legs of the IRB 7s circuit was unveiled in Wellington. It included veterans, brothers Humphrey and Collins Injera, Lavin Asego and Victor Oduor complemented by Nato Simiyu – back after a three year hiatus, David Ambunya – recalled from University of Cape Town and rookie Michael Wanjala.

Kenya, knowing nothing short on qualification for the Main Cup quarter-finals would appease the home fans, conceded the softest of tries straight from the kick-off when Captain Sydney Ashioya was dispossesed by Jesse Parahi who put Australia 5-0 ahead. Ashioya made ammends almost immediately former Captain Humphrey Kayange created the easiest of tries for him for a 7-5 lead. Shortly after Collins Injera showed the Aussies a clean pair of heels increase Kenya’s lead to 14-5. Some poor defending by Kenya saw Daniel Yakapo reduce Australia’s deficit to 14-10 with a minute to half-time and a late surge by the Australians bore no fruit.

Two minutes into the second half a clever kick by Injera was latched onto by Ashioya who stretched his side’s lead to 21-10. Almost immediately, Injera got into the act again to make the game safe for Kenya 28-10 but his brother Kayange was not done and capped a brilliant display by scoring the last try for a 35-10 result in favour of his team. Lavin Asego’s boot successfully converted all 5 tries.

This was an awesome display by Mitch Ocholla’s boys which vindicated his decision to recall experienced players back to the side.

Kenya 17 France 26

France started on a high note by denying their Kenyan opponents possession and duly took a   5-0 lead in the second minute through Vincent Danieu. Oscar Ouma responded for Kenya two minutes later to tie the score 5-5. The French were not to be outdone, however, and Danieu added his second, giving his team a 12-5 half-time advantage.

Kenya defended strongly on resumption and soon reduced their rivals lead to 12-10 courtesy of a Collins Injera try. Thibault Zambeli hit back for France to restore their 7-point advantage but Injera was not to be outdone, responding a minute later reinstate Kenya’s 2-point deficit but a clever French kick at the death towards the Kenya try-line was chased by Renaud Delmas who used his feet to prevent it going into touch and he made sure of a French victory with the easiest of tries that saw the match end 26-17

Kenya 14 Canada 21

After a four minute delay due to injury to a Canadian player, Oscar Ouma put Kenya ahead 0-7. Canada’s Conor Trainor hit back immediately from the resultant Kenya kick-off to level the scores. Shortly after Kenya’s Collins Injera crossed the line for a half-time 7-14 scoreline in favour of his team.

Lack of defensive discipline by Kenya allowed the Canadian’s to score twice in quick succession, first from Nanyak Dala to level the scores followed by Conor Tainor’s second and ultimately deciding try that saw Kenya lose 21-14 and with it lost out in the race for a Main Cup quarter final slot

Kenya will now play Scotland in the bowl quarter finals on Saturday.

Kenya timings for

Kenya's Humphrey Kayange tackles an Australian player at the Hertz Sevens. Kenya won this match 35-10 but narrowly missed out on the main cup. Photo courtesy of the IRB,

Saturday 4 February 2012

Bowl Quarters

Scotland v Kenya           3.00am

Wales v USA                  3.22am

Australia v Japan            3.44am

Cook Islands v Argentina 4.06am

Main Cup Quarters

New Zealand v France   4.33am

Tonga v England           4.55am

Canada v Samoa          5.17am

South Africa v Fiji          5.39am

Shield Semis

Semi Final 1    6.10am

Semi final 2     6.32am

Bowl Semis

Semi Final 1  6.54am

Semi Final 2  7.16am

Plate Semis

Semi Final 1 7.38am

Semi  Final 2  8.00am

Main Cup Semis

Semi Final 1  8.35am

Semi Final 2  9.00am

Shield Final  9.30am

Bowl Final  10.00am

Plate Final   10.30am

Third Place Play Off: 11.00am

Main Cup Final:  11.30am

Former captain Humphrey Kayange is the most notable inclusion in the Kenya Sevens squad to the fourth and fifth legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series in New Zealand and the USA.

Sidney Ashioya retains the captain’s armband of the squad that is intent on improving on its previous showings during the opening three legs of the circuit late last year.

 Ocholla said, “Our focus heading into this stretch of the series is starting our campaign or a high, targeting a minimum of two wins during the pool matches which will put us in good stead for qualification to the main cup quarter finals. We shall move on from there one step at a time. The key thing for Kenya Sevens is to improve on the performances from the opening three legs. We have included Kayange whose departure to the United Kingdom for further studies has been held back slightly owing to a delay in processing his travel papers. ”

Addressing the media at the same press brief, Kenya Rugby Union Chairman Mwangi Muthee said,” We have revamped the squad travelling to New Zealand and the USA with the aim of improving on our performances during the last legs of the series. We have included a number of players who had been unavailable owing to work and academic commitments.

Speaking on Kayange’s inclusion, he added, “ Humphrey is a leader and mentor, his guidance to the younger players will greatly help the team. We have talked to Bristol University, where he is scheduled to be heading to, and have engaged his services for these two legs. We have also engaged David Ambunya from University of Cape Town for these two legs and we will continue to do so, if and when they earn call ups to the national squads.”

Other returnees to the squad, that has seven changes from the team that did duty during the opening rounds of the circuit are former IRB Sevens top try scorer Collins Injera and Lavin Asego, who missed out on the opening rounds due to academic and work commitments, Victor Oduor, Michael Wanjala, David Ambunya and Linus Simiyu, the Kenya fifteens flyhalf and younger sibling of Victor and Innocent who have featured for the Kenya Sevens squad in recent seasons..

Kenya's Collins Injera (Left) and Humphrey Kayange celebrate after they scored a try against Fiji during the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup in 2009. The brothers are in Kenya's squad to the Wellington and Las Vegas legs of the 2011-2012 HSBC Sevens World Series.

 

The team departs on Saturday 28 January 2012 at 9.10am, returning to the country on Wednesday 15 February 2012 at 6.30 am.

The team

Sidney Ashioya (Kenya Harlequin FC, captain) , Lavin Asego (Mwamba RFC), Collins Injera (Mwamba RFC), Victor Oduor (Kenya Harlequin FC), Leon Adongo (Kenya Harlequin FC), Humphrey Kayange (Mwamba RFC), Patrice Agunda (Kenya Harlequin FC), Oscar Ouma (Nakuru RFC), Linus Simiyu (Impala RFC), Michael Wanjala (Strathmore Leos), Horace Otieno (Mwamba RFC), David Ambunya (UCT, South Africa)

Non travelling reserves: Biko Adema (Nondies RFC), Michael Agevi (Mwamba RFC), Kennedy Moseti (Homeboyz RFC)

Management : Mitch Ocholla (Head Coach), Charles Cardovillis (Assistant Coach), John Mbai (Team Manager), Felix Ochieng (Performance Analyst), George Odhiambo (Physiotherapist), Geoffrey Kimani (Conditioning Coach)

Having lost 31-14 to Australia in their opening encounter, Kenya fell 0-45 to South Africa and 5-26 to Canada.

Kenya 5 Canada 26

Handling errors and poor discipline at the break-down continued to cost Kenya dearly as Canada capitalised to score two tries from Sean White and Nanyak Dala both converted by Harry Jones for a 14-0 lead at half time.

There was no respite on resumption as Kenya lost the ball in contact and Jones crossed to stretch Canada’s lead to 19-0. The flat passing game reminiscent of the Gold Coast offered no penetration against the Canadian defence and it took an individual 50 metre run from Dennis Ombachi to reduce his team’s deficit to 19-5 but Sean Duke restored the lead and, after Connor Braid’s conversion, Canada won the match 26-5.

Kenya finished last in Pool C and face Scotland in a tough Day 2 in the Bowl Quarter-finals

Kenya 0 South Africa 45

South Africa’s Cecil Afrika and Stephen Hunt dominated the first-half, with the former creating space for Hunt to score before showing Kenya’s defence a clean pair of heels to add a second. A lost line-out by Kenya gifted Hunt a second try, his team’s third and his hat-trick came courtesy of an Afrika pass.  Branco du Preez missed but one conversion to leave Kenya trailing 26-0 at the break.

Kenya’s only chance of putting points on the board came early in the in the second half but Captain Sydney Ashioya’s attempt to slip past two opponents not only failed but left him unable to continue after sustaining a knee

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 09: Oscar Ouma of Kenya moves in to tackle Cornal Hendricks of South Africa during day 1 of the 2011 IRB PE Sevens at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on December 09, 2011 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

injury. The South Africans thereafter dominated play and mixed power, pace and style to add three more tries – Hunt’s fourth, Mark Richards and Johannes Prinsloo plus du Preez successfully converting twice for a 45-0 result.

Kenya started the third leg of the 2011/2012 HSBC Sevens World Series, the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens with a 31-14 Pool C loss in a match played moments ago in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Kenya’s team had three changes to the Gold Coast and Dubai squads with Philip Wamae replacing Michael Agevi who had exam commitments, and Brian Nyikuli and Leon Adongo for Horace Owiti and William Ambaka who both sustained ham-string injuries in training.

The victors would come out of the starting blocks strongest,recovering possession after losing a turnover ball to Kenya with their skipper Ed Jenkins playing in Lewis Holland who went over, converting his own try to see Australia 7-0 up. Holland would continue to pose problems for Kenya early in this match as the Australians attacked the ball with speed, posing problems for Mitch Ocholla’s side.

With Kenya penalized following an infringement, the Australians played the ball wide, setting up Greg Jeloudev to score in the corner. His unconverted try putting Australia 12-0 before Jenkins went over with Hamish Angus converted to see his side take a 19-0 lead into the breather.

Kenya would come alive in the second half, and were rewarded with an Oscar Ouma try a minute into the half. Captain Sidney Ashioya would convert to see his side trail 19-7. With Kennedy Moseti converting Leon Adongo’s try, Kenya were five points adrift, within touching distance as they trailed Australia 19-14 .

Kenya in previous action at the 2009 IRB Sevens World Cup

A tough penalty call against Kenya that would have seen the scores at least tie instead resulted in Australia’s Jordan Tuapou score a converted try and Pama Fou added another with the final play, again from a Kenyan penalty for a 31-14 result. All in all Australia’s discipline, where they conceded no penalties to Kenya’s five saw them win a game that could have gone either way.

Friday 9 December 2011