Will Kenya outgun France, Fiji in Vancouver 7s?
What you need to know:
- Fijians are proven masters of game and group favourites.
- Fiji, who won bronze in Las Vegas last weekend, will be seeking revenge against Innocent Simiyu’s charges.
- Kenya lost to France 19-14 and will be out to right matters in Canada.
- It has been a punch-me-I-punch-you scenario between Kenya and France this season.
Revenge will be on Kenya players' minds when they launch their Canada Sevens campaign against France at 9.14pm on Saturday at the BC Place in Vancouver.
They will then meet Spain at 12.46am on Sunday before wrapping up their Pool “C” outing against Hamilton Sevens champions Fiji at 4.40am.
The clash between Kenya, Fiji, and France is a repeat of last weekend’s Las Vegas Sevens pool stage where Shujaa registered mixed results against the two giants.
Fiji, who won bronze in Las Vegas last weekend, will be seeking revenge against Innocent Simiyu’s charges. Kenya stunned the fancied Fijians 17-14 in a do-or-die last pool match for a place in the Cup quarters.
Earlier, Kenya had lost to France 19-14 and will be out to right matters in Canada.
It has been a punch-me-I-punch-you scenario between Kenya and France this season.
LOST TO FRANCE
Kenya lost to the Frenchmen 21-14 in the pool stage at Cape Town Sevens before exacting revenge at the Sydney Sevens pool stage in Australia, winning 17-14.
Le Bleus returned the favour in the USA setting the stage for a potentially bruising encounter Saturday evening.
Kenya met Fiji for the first time this season during the third leg of the Series in Australia where they lost 24-5 in the Fifth Place semi-finals play-off.
Kenya did lose to Argentina 17-12 in the Cup quarter-finals in Las Vegas and 26-21 to Australia 26-21 in extra time in the semi-final for the Fifth Place play-off to finish tied in seventh place with England.
The match against Australia is best remembered for Willy Ambaka’s long range try in as he dished out three massive hands off to desperately chasing Aussie defence.
FIJI THRID
Fiji are placed third with 79 points, France are 10th with 37 points while Spain are 16th with 18 points. Spain have not reached the main Cup quarterfinals this season but went on to reach Challenge Trophy final twice in Dubai and South Africa and bottom place in Australia, New Zealand and USA.
Despite the unpredictable pool, Simiyu has rallied his charges to break the semi-final jinx in Canada. Kenya has reached the main Cup semi-finals four times from their five outings so far but failed to go past the stage.
“We have a tough pool though but It will be interesting to see how the boys play this weekend,” said Simiyu. “Key focus has been on our preparations so that we ensure we start well and finish well, hit our performance targets early and consistently.”
Simiyu said he is happy with the good response from players and commended strength and conditioning coach Geoffrey Kimani and physiotherapist Lamech Bogonko for managing to get them to 100 per cent recovery after Vegas.
