NAIROBI, Kenya, March 28 – Kenya took a positive step towards the Main Cup quarter-finals of the seventh round of HSBC Sevens World Series in Hong Kong after humiliating Sri Lanka 41-0 in their Pool A opener on Friday.
Paul Treu charges will now face Wales at 8:46am local time on Saturday for their second match before rounding up the preliminary stage with defending champions Fiji at 2:16pm.
Fiji laid down a marker by walloping Wales 42-7 with danger man Samison Viriviri scoring two quick tries for 14-0 at the start as Samuel Cross scored what was a consolation. Osea Kolinisau touched down for Emosi to convert and see them 35-0 ahead in half-time.
On resumption Fiji had to work less to seal the win with two tries from Stefano Cakau and Joeli Lutumailagi.
Skipper Andrew Amonde led by example to give Kenya the opener after running outwards to round two Sri Lanka players to reach the line but Biko Adema failed to convert as they led 5-0.
Winger Dennis Ombachi collected the ball from Adema who touched down before vice captain Collin Injera received a fine pass from Adema to break through the Sri Lanka defence to score his career 179 try to enjoy a 15-0 half-time lead after Adema missed all the kicks.
Shujaa maintained possession after the break with Amonde passing the ball to Horace Otieno who had no challenge to run through for his ninth try of this season before Adema found space to speed from the center to score on the outside to see Kenya extend the lead to 29-0.
Oscar Ayodi and Billy Odhiambo sealed victory for Kenya after Ayodi collected the ball from kick-off to touch down his 11th try this season before Injera passed the ball to Odhiambo to slide between the post for 41-1 victory.
Treu needs to win Saturday’s match against Wales to progress to a fifth Cup quarter-final this season.
Meanwhile, their female counterparts Lionesses fell at the final hurdle of the bowl competition at the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens, going down 7-33 to the hosts.
Celestine Masinde scored Kenya’s lone try with Janet Awino converting.
Kenya beat Papua New Guinea12-5 to reach the final after losing their entire Pool C matches against France 35-0 and 24-7 to China to miss out on the Cup semifinals.
Head Coach Kevin Wambua, speaking from Hong Kong, said, “It’s been a great outing for the Lionesses, we have picked up many valuable lessons from our participation in this tournament and this will surely give us the impetus to improve our performances moving forward.”