Faltering start for Kenya at sevens Dubai opener

The national rugby sevens team Shujaa got their new HSBC World Rugby Sevens season off to a faltering start in Dubai as they lost their first Group D match to France by 24 – 14.

The Kenyans were off to flyer, taking a first half advantage and just as they seemed to have control of proceedings, a second half implosion invited the French back and ahead.

Kenya struck first after going through the phases with Nelson Oyoo going over the whitewash following a quick pass by captain Andrew Amonde to score the first try of the new sevens series season. Augustine Lugonzo added the extras for a 7 – 0 lead.

Immediately after the kick off, Lugonzo who seemed to orchestrate Kenya’s attack play held on the ball for just long enough to pop it to William Ambaka who timed his run to perfection slicing through the wobbly French defense to extend Kenya’s lead to 14 – 0 as Lugonzo added the conversion.

France replied soon after as Captain Terry Bouhraoua reduced the deficit with a try in the corner flag after a patient build up but he missed the resultant conversion. Bouhraoua’s teammate Pierre-Gilles Lakafia made it a 2 point difference when he scored the French’s second try in almost the exact spot from their first one to trail Kenya 14 – 12 at the interval.

In the second half, the French picked up from where they left off as Les Bleus capitalized on Kenya’s infringements at the breakdown to set up a platform for captain Terry Bouhraoua to score his second and his team’s 3rd third try.

Soon after kick off, the momentum seemed to have swung in favor of the French as some poor ball handling skills by Nelson Oyoo gifted Sacha Valleau with the chance to gather the loose ball to stretch their advantage to 24 as Bouhraoua added the extras and Kenya seemed to have eased the gas on the pedal.

Kenya’s new Head coach Innocent Simiyu rung in the changes bringing in Daniel Sikuta and Darwin Mukidza to add some impetus into the squad but the team failed to recover from the French’s resurgence as their opponents held on to possession to seal the win.

Kenya will face Japan in their next group match.