Samoa, Fiji crush Kenya 7s Cup quarters dream

Kenya slipped to the Bowl competition of the Vancouver 7s after their Main Cup semi final charge was curtailed by defeats to Samoa and Las Vegas champions, Fiji on Sunday.

After brushing aside Portugal 43-5 in their opener, the intensity of the competition went up a notch as they faced Samoa, a side that won the overall World Series title five seasons ago.

Kenya struck first with Billy Odhiambo bundling over the opposition to go over the white wash after Andrew Amonde ripped the ball off the Samoans with Adema adding the extras for 7 – 0 lead.

Alamanda Motuga struck back for the Samoans fending off Odhiambo who was the last defender, to score between the uprights but his team mate failed to convert.

The Samoans almost snatched the lead but Belgium Tuatagaloa failed to control the ball after a clever chip and the Kenyan camp heaved a sigh of relief.

The reprieve was short-lived when Kenya’s scrambling defense was finally breached by Samoa’s Phoenix Hunapo-nofoa who capitalized on some meek tackling to score a converted try for a 12 – 7 score at the break.

Collins Injera gave Kenya the perfect start in the second half as he tip-toed near the touch line evading stepping out of play to score a try following William Ambaka’s well-timed offload.

Samoa’s Alefoso Topili broke the deadlock after a patient build up forcing Kenya to over commit on defense.

Kenya was on the verge of staging a comeback but Odhiambo’s ambitious offload went to the wrong hands and it culminated in a try in the opposite end of the pitch.

Oscar Ouma scored a last gasp try for Kenya but they were beaten by the clock as they lost 26 – 19 to Samoa.

Their final Pool A match against Fiji was a must win in order to seal their place into the main cup quarterfinals.

The score line however told a different story after four minutes as the Fijians snatched a quick 12 – 0 lead outwitting the Kenyan defense with sublime passing and sidestepping.

Injera put Kenya back in the game running three quarters the length of the pitch after a solid build up by Oscar Ouma to score a memorable try which placed him 2nd in the all time top try scorers rankings.

Ouma drew the two sides level at the break with a converted try as he shook off two Fijians to ground the ball over the try line.

In the second half, Fiji’s speedster Jasa Veremalua broke the deadlock but once again Kenya showed sheer grit to level with Sammy Oliech combining well with Biko Adema to hand Kenya the lead by 19 – 17 as the 22 year-old showed a clean pair of heels and an eye for the try line.

It was tense moments in the final minutes of the game as Kenya tried valiantly to consolidate their lead hoarding possession.

Fiji’s predatory skills enabled the pacific islanders to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat when Kitione Taliga out-sprinted Injera to score the winning try quashing Kenya’s hopes of a quarterfinal berth.

Kenya were scheduled to play France in the Bowl quarters later Sunday.