Kenya 7s heads to Europe for do-or-die legs

Kenya 7s team departs to London tonight ahead of the HSBC World Sevens Series penultimate round – London Sevens this weekend at the Twickenham Stadium with relegation staring at them.

Kenya 7s is currently ranked 13th with 26 points, just a point above Wales (25points) and four above Japan (22 points) who occupy the last and relegation slot.

Paul ‘Pau’ Murunga charges will kick off their London 7s Pool B action on Saturday 25 against Fiji at 12:36pm, before playing their second match against Samoa at 3:20pm and wrap up their day one action at 6:26pm against France.

Shujaa has played four times against Fiji this season losing on all occasions.

They lost 43-12 in the Dubai Sevens, 38-7 in the Cape Town Sevens, 36-12 in the Vancouver Sevens and 22-5 in the Hong Kong Sevens.

Fiji is currently second in the 15-team log with 142 points, three adrift of leaders South Africa.

They have also lost in their last six meetings this season against France falling 21-17, 19-12, 19-15, 40- 17, 31-7, and 24-14 in the Dubai, Cape Town, Hamilton, Sydney, Las Vegas and in the Singapore Challenge Trophy quarter finals respectively.

With the three teams in the relegation battle, Shujaa needs to finish above the two sides in London and Paris to retain their core status in the World Sevens Series; sentiments echoed by the head coach Paul Murunga when he named the squad for the Europe tour.

“London and Paris is a delicate situation for us as we need to ensure we retain our core status in the Series. I’m however confident that this team will deliver.”

His sentiments were supported by captain Jacob Ojee who is hopeful that the selected squad will deliver in London and Paris Sevens.

“Despite the challenges, I take it as a blessing in disguise given the fact that the team that was selected to represent the country has stepped up. We are hopeful that our performance will end on a high.”

Shujaa has performed poorly this season compared to last season where they finished eighth with a record 104 points under the stewardship of the then head coach Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu.