Exit Lionesses, enter Shujaa as Kenya’s rugby charge rolls on

Exit Lionesses, enter Shujaa. Kenya’s quest to win a team medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics continues on Tuesday when the national rugby sevens men’s side take to the pitch to chase honours in Brazil.

And just their Lionesses colleagues, the two-time Rugby Sevens World Cup semifinalists have all to do to get out of a tough group.

Shujaa are in pool C and will play Great Britain in the opener at 6:00pm Kenyan time (+3GMT) before taking on the might of New Zealand at 11:30pm. They will then wrap their preliminary campaign when they face Japan at 6:00pm on Wednesday at the Deodoro Stadium.

This is the scene where they female colleagues, who will be undoubtedly be watching the action from the stand, suffered heavy defeats to New Zealand (52-0) and France (42-7) before being edged 19-10 by Spain in their pool encounters.

They beat Colombia 22-10 to win their first game on Monday in a performance that raised the spirits at the Kenyan camp.

In an earlier interview after landing in Rio, Shujaa vice-captain, Collins Injera urged his teammates to focus on the opener to lay a solid platform for their medal quest.

“Kenya is well known for track events and getting medals from them until the other day when Julius Yego came in the field, but for us to get the opportunity to win the country a medal in other kind of sport apart from track and field, it will be a great honour,” the all time record try scorer in the HSBC World Series said.

“Our plan is to win one game at a time starting with Great Britain as we build our momentum for the tournament, they are a mixture or three countries and their players are going to be good.

“The second match against New Zealand is going to very competitive they are more experienced and have been performing well in rugby.” Injera told Citizen Digital before the team departed for Rio.

The team had camped for two weeks at Nandi Bears, Nandi County before their departure for Rio on July 31 where they have been having their intensive training sessions.

Shujaa will be looking to replicate their historic performance at the eighth leg of the HSBC World Series in Singapore when they won their maiden Main Cup title.

Injera will also be looking forward to make a statement in the world of rugby by decorating his most successful season with the coveted Olympics gold.

Men’s squad: Biko Adema, Willie Ambaka, Andrew Amonde (captain), Oscar Ayodi, Collins Injera, Humphrey Kayange, Augustine Lugonzo, Bush Mwale, Billy Odhiambo, Samuel Oliech, Dennis Ombachi, Oscar Ouma.

Local timings (+3GMT)

August 9

6:00pm GRB v KEN

11:30PM NZLv KEN

August 10

06:00 PM KEN v JPN