Captain Ayodi and Shujaa target elusive 100-pointer

The national sevens team will have yet another stab at the 100-point landmark for the season, Shujaa centre Oscar Ayodi has said.

Ayodi who will skipper the national team in the HSBC World Sevens Series opening rounds in Dubai and South Africa said the Shujaa have always fell short but will once again take aim at the target.

“We have always been targeting 100 points which we have never attained so we want to hit it first before we can aim higher,” Ayodi said.

The Menengai Cream Homeboyz RFC player was named as injured regular captain Andrew Amonde’s replacement by head coach Innocent Simiyu following the team’s 10-day training camp in Nanyuki.

Simiyu’s squad is composed of both experienced and youth players who will be looking forward to make debut in the opening rounds.

“The guys are blending well; the new guys are learning something from the experienced members of the squad and hopefully they can bring something fresh to the team,” Oscar Ouma said.

Shujaa top scorer Collins Injera says he has been impressed by the week’s training schedule and backed the team to have a bright start in Dubai.

A Sevens select side participated in this year’s Safland sevens which they were crowned champions after edging out South Africa select 19-12 in Namibia.

Simiyu will try to improve his disappointing debut season last year where he led the Shujaa to finishing 12th with 63 points.

The last time Kenya neared a 100 point mark was in the 2012/2013 season where they finished with 99 points under the stewardship of English coach Mike Friday.

Shujaa will start their campaign in Pool A against defending champions South Africa, Canada and neighbours Uganda next week.