England rout Kenya 7s after Fiji Main Cup heartbreak

Tournament champions, Fiji struck late to break Kenya Sevens hearts at the Hong Kong 7s Main Cup quarters in a 10-12 loss before England stuck the knife in the dispirited Shujaa with a 0-33 demolition in the Shield semi finals on Sunday morning.

Benjamin Ayimba’s boys almost caused the biggest upset in the seventh stop of the HSBC World Sevens Series in Hong Kong after coming from behind to lead the southern hemisphere giants before the Fijians found redemption at the very last.

Jerry Tuwai burst through two defenders before finding Kitione Taliga with an out-the-back offload and this time the ball stuck to put Fiji in front at the start of the second half.

Ayimba’s side hit back when Kenya went from defence to attack to take the lead, Collins Injera scoring his first try of the weekend after collecting his own chip kick ahead.

The second all-time series try scorer got his 223rd when he received a brilliant pass from his elder brother Humphrey Khayange and looped the ball above Fiji defense and ran down the 22 yards to give Kenya a lifeline with Sammy Oliech converting with ease to make it 7-5.

Kenya were in front with two minutes to go before Injera added a penalty from in front of the posts as Fiji’s hold on the Hong Kong trophy looked in danger.

But Kenyan hearts were broken when Savenaca Rawaca powered down the left flank and touched down to level the scores just as the hooter sounded and nerveless captain Osea Kolinisau nailed the conversion to send Fiji through and relegate Shujaa to the Shield semis against England.

Richard de Carpentier took a pop pass from Phil Burgess to score under the posts as England made an encouraging start in the second Shield semi-final against the massively physical Kenyans.

Dan Norton then joined Ben Golling in becoming an English double centurion for tries scored on the series when he dribbled the ball over the line at the end of the first half.

Burgess then capped a good display with England’s third try before captain Tom Mitchell confirmed the win when he gathered his own chip over the top to score in front of the South Stand.

Great interplay led to Ollie Lindsay-Hague supplying further gloss to the victory with seconds remaining as England advanced to the Plate finals.