Samoa End Kenya's Olympic Dream
By Omwanda Jotham
Kenya 7s (Shujaa) were crushed on Thursday by losing 26-0 to Samoa in a crucial Group B match played at the Stade de Paris.
With a quarterfinal berth hanging in the balance, the Shujaas faced a must-win situation. However, Samoa's dominance extinguished their Olympic dream.
The game kicked off with Kenya 7s performing poorly and losing possession twice in the early stages as Samoa took advantage and made a try right in the first few minutes of the game. The tactic paid off in minutes when Motu Opetai made a run to score near the posts.
Kenya suffered a significant blow when Kevin Wekesa was sin-binned for two minutes following a lineout infringement. His reckless attempt to tackle a Samoan player left his team shorthanded for the remainder of the half, trailing 7-0 at the break.
Kenya regained momentum for a bit but lost it as Samoa continued to outshine the Shujaa’s in all fronts capitalizing on the lost possession by Kenya.
Paul Scanlin would show his prowess has he made a try giving Falaniko a conversion to make it a 12-0 stat. The 7s were an able to dispossess the Samoans and any time they gained possession, they lost the counter-racks, with Kenya 7s grappling for chance at a try with no space to break.
Kenya 7s thought they had in them to reduce the deficit and narrowly landed a try of their own, but a wayward pass by Tony Omondi was intercepted and lost possession and Samoa made some good plays before landing another try making a big defeat 26-0.
Kenya rugby team has not had the best of chances since the Olympics started as they have lost all the games.
• Argentina 31-12 Kenya
• Australia 21-7 Kenya
• Samoa 26-0 Kenya
Kelvin Wekesa and co-captain Tony Omondi being sin-binned proved to be costly for the Kenyan team. With the result, Samoa winning Kenya have now finished rock bottom of Pool B and will now wait for another round of 4 year for a chance at the Olympic.
JUDY ROTICH