Kenya sevens limp out of Vancouver with five points

Kenya bagged five points at the Vancouver Sevens, the sixth stop of the World Sevens series, as they limped out of the Challenge trophy semi-final after slumping to a 26 – 7 defeat to an astute Samoan outfit.

In a repeat of the Las Vegas sevens final a week ago in the United States where Kenya emerged victors, Samoa secured redemption in Vancouver with a clinical win.

Shujaa dominated possession in the opening exchanges but Bush Mwale threw a wayward pass that was intercepted and the opportunity to be on the scoreboard first went up in smoke.

A well worked move following a line out allowed Alex Samoa, conveniently named like his country of birth to score between the uprights for a converted try as Kenya’s defense was caught flat-footed.

Joe Perez stretched Samoa’s lead as he beat Injera side stepping him expertly for another 7 points as his try was successfully converted.

Kenya almost reduced the deficit but once again Bush Mwale who seemed to be the Achilles heel in Kenya’s attack popped the ball too low for Eden Agero meters from the try line after the Homeboyz forward was tackled short of the whitewash.

The half time buzzer sounded in the distance with Kenya ruing their missed chances despite having a numerical advantage following Savelio Ropati’s sending off for a bookable infringement.

Kenya finally got on the scoreboard in the second half after Sammy Oliech showed sheer grit and blistering pace to fend off the cross covering defender to make it a seven point game as he converted his own try for 14 – 7 score.

Samoa were back to their full compliment and Perez left substitute Frank Wanyama for dead with a cheeky spin to stretch their advantage to 21 points as his try was successfully converted.

Shujaa bungled a chance to score a consolation try as William Ambaka’s wayward pass was intercepted and the Samoans scored on the counter with Ropati displaying some impressive juggling skills in the Kenyan try box to seal the 26 – 7 victory.

It was a disappointing exit for the side, which only won two games out of five as their North American tour concluded in an anticlimactic fashion.