Kenya 7s team rues absence of experienced stars in Cape Town 7s

NAIROBI, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Kenya rugby team manager Eric Ogweno on Wednesday blamed their limp performance at the Cape Town 7s on the absence of experienced duo, Collins Injera and Dennis Ombachi.

Head coach Innocent Simiyu was forced to call for replacements for Injera and Ombachi, who returned from injuries before the South African leg after being forced out of the Dubai 7s opener.

Kenya finished seventh in the opening round and scored 10 points, slipping from 11th to 13th on the Sevens World Series standings.

"It was painful to blow away the 14-0 lead against France in our opening match at Cape Town Stadium and their absence was an uphill task for the team in South Africa. Our target there was to finish with a maximum of 15 points but it was not to be," Ogweno said in Nairobi at a luncheon hosted for the team.

Kenya will be boosted by the return of captain, Andrew Amonde, at the third leg of the Series in Sydney, Australia,on Jan. 25-26 after sitting out Dubai and Cape Town with injury.

"Amonde has started training with his club. I can assure he will be the perfect replacement in case Ombachi fails to be ready for Sydney in time," Ogweno added.

The skipper who last played for Kenya at the 2016-17 season-ending Scotland 7s, is relishing his return to the team.

"I'm also working hard to be fit for the Commonwealth Games and 15s World Cup qualifiers next year," Amonde told.

Despite their set back in Cape Town where they crashed out of the Main Cup quarterfinals after losing to South Africa and France in Pool A, Ogweno insisted their aim of at least winning two legs in the remaining rounds remains on course.

"Our target is to finish the series with over 100 points up from the 63 realised last season. To achieve this, we have to get at least 10 from each of the legs," the Team Manager asserted. Enditem