Kenya team huddle before the game against Fiji on day one of the HSBC Sydney Sevens 2020 men’s competition at Bankwest Stadium on 1 February, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 6 – Despite a lethargic performance at the Sydney leg of the World Sevens Series, Shujaa head coach Paul Feeney says he is pleased with the improvement the team has had over the first four stops of the season.
Shujaa picked up just one point from Sydney after losing all their matches, and it was a spiral from their performance in Hamilton, New Zealand where they picked up 11 points after eye catching performances.
“I am proud of what the boys are doing and much as the results in Sydney were disappointing, we move on and work on winning games in the next tournament,” Feeney said after the team jetted back to the country.
His sentiments were echoed by skipper Andrew Amonde. “We were humbled by the top teams in Sydney but it’s up to us to work on how we bounce back to winning ways after things fail to go our way.”
The team is expected to resume training next week as they switch their focus to the American Tour of the series that will take them to Los Angeles on the weekend of February 28 before travelling to Vancouver, Canada for the sixth leg of the series.
Shujaa picked up two victories, two losses and a draw at the Hamilton leg of the World Sevens Series
In Los Angeles, Shujaa have been handed a relatively favorable pool as they have been drawn with South Africa, who they have already beaten this season, Canada and Ireland.
Feeney’s charges will look to take advantage of a workable pool and qualify for their second Main Cup semi-final this year.
Also, the fact that LA and Vancouver will see the tournament revert to it’s traditional format will be an extra motivation. Different from the last tour in Sydney and Hamilton where only group winners would advance to the Main Cup contention, this time, the top two will proceed to the Cup quarters.
The team is currently placed 11th in the overall standings with 26 points after four rounds of the series.
