Kenya Sevens vice captain Collins Injera when the team arrived from Vancouver 7s on Thursday night, March 18, 2016. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, March 18 – With four rounds remaining before the end of the 2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Kenya 7s star Collins Injera is confident of surpassing Argentinean Santiago Gomez Cora in the all-time World leading try scorer list.
Injera grounded his 221st historic try at the sixth leg in Vancouver 7s to leapfrog England’s Ben Gollings who is on 220 tries.
Speaking when the team arrived on Thursday night from Canada, Injera outlined that his biggest aim is not to achieve the huge feat, but assisting the team achieve their top five finish target in the series.
“It is a great feat individually. It is an amazing thing and it shows how far we have come as a team and how far I have come. When I started this journey back in 2006 my aim was to be the top try scorer in the world. Maybe then it was just a dream but now it’s achievable.”
“To be honest I didn’t focus scoring that try. I just wanted to play and help my team win and after the game is when I realized that I had surpassed the guy,” the 29-year-old winger affirmed.
He added, “The focus is on the team now. I’ll continue playing my role and if I get to the top try scorer list, it will be a bonus that’s after I have helped my team succeed. I believe anything is possible.”
His captain Andrew Amonde has tipped him to achieve the feat, saying he deserves it after working hard throughout his hugely decorated career.
“He is capable of achieving it this year. He is a guy who has been scoring in every tour and he is a big motivation to this team. Seeing him achieve his goal is a big inspiration to the young players coming up,” Amonde told Capital Sport.
Kenya 7s captain, Collins Injera, celebrates scoring a try against South Africa’s Blitzbokke at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, December 12, 2015. PHOTO/World Rugby
Apart from eying a historical milestone, Injera who was handed his debut by current head coach Benjamin Ayimba at the 2006 Dubai Sevens, is also putting much of his energy and focus in the Olympic Games where the shorter version of the game will be debuting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“There is a lot of motivation to make our game plan work in every tour because we are building up for Olympics. New players are being given an opportunity to play and by doing this they are being exposed to competition.”
“The momentum in these four remaining legs will be very important in giving us a lift to the Olympics,” Injera, the younger brother of veteran and former Kenya 7s skipper, Humphrey Kayange pointed out.
The team will go for a mandatory 10-day rest before resuming training with their sights set on the Hong Kong and Singapore tours coming up in April.
In Hong Kong, Kenya has been drawn in a tricky Pool A alongside titans New Zealand, Samoa and France.
Kenya stunned New Zealand 22-0 in Las Vegas but did not fare well in Vancouver where they picked only one point, having managed to win only one match in five games.
In Vancouver, Shujaa faced Samoa in the preliminary round, losing 26-19 before falling 24-21 to France in the Bowl quarter-finals.
“In Vancouver we didn’t perform well and we were really hit with injuries. Things didn’t work out for us and from there we struggled to get back the tempo.”
“In Hong Kong and Singapore, we want to win the first game against New Zealand which will put us in a good position to qualify for the quarters,” the Mwamba RFC player underscored.
