GLASGOW, Scotland, May 4- Kenya crashed out of the Main Cup quarters in the penultimate HSBC World Sevens Series in Scotland following a series of limp displays that left them rooted to the bottom of Pool A.
“Apologies to the 40M+ that performance was not acceptable by #Kenya7s too many basic errors &we were duly punished. It’s as simple as that!” head coach Mike Friday tweeted to sum the dismal campain that saw Kenya lose 10-21 to Canada, 26-0 to Samoa and 14-17 to South Africa in the opener to exit the race for top honours.
“Rest Recover Regroup… We sharpen the hunt tomorrow,” was former captain, Sydney Ashioya’s take on the outcome of day 1 as Kenya’s high hopes dissipated.
Paul Treu’s South Africa progressed to the Cup quarter finals with a 100 per cent record after impressively beating Samoa 27-0 in their final match with Justin Geduld scoring twice, and they will be joined by Canada after the season’s leading points scorer Nathan Hirayama scored a try in the final seconds of their 21-12 victory over Kenya to guarantee their place.
Earlier, Tokyo Sevens champions South Africa narrowly defeated Kenya 17-14 in their first match before an enthralling encounter between Samoa and Canada.
Mikaele Pesamino scored Samoa’s first try, but the North American side came from 17-0 down to win 19-17 thanks to tries from Jeff Hassler, Sean Duke and captain Nanyak Dala in a fascinating comeback.
Friday’s Kenya suffered their second defeat of day one, losing 26-0 to Samoa, while Stephan Dippenaar broke Canadian hearts with a last-minute try to give South Africa a 17-14 victory against Geraint John’s side having trailed 14-7.
Kenya were scheduled to face France in the Bowl quarters on Sunday in a bid to reclaim some pride.
In their final pool game against Canada, recalled Collins Injera had the Kenyan fans dancing in the stands after scoring the opening try of the match for a 5-0 scoreline.
The lead did not last long though as Nathan Hirayama converted Taylor Paris’ try, before Ciaran Hearn found it too easy to waltz through the Kenyan defence. Friday was not happy with that try conceded as Canada now led 14-5.
Kenya hit back with two minutes to go through Willy Ambaka, but missed the conversion to trail 14-10 before the Canadians sealed the win by crossing the whitewash for a converted try.
