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Five things we learnt from Kenya 7s' display in Pool B of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Kenya national men’s sevens team Shujaa’s hopes of achieving a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics were dealt a huge blow as they lost all their three Pool B matches, consigning them to fight for a ninth-place finish.
The Kenyans gave it a spirited fight but ultimately never managed to achieve their objectives, and they will now be wondering, “what if”.
We certainly picked some lessons from their Paris Olympics campaign. As they prepare to face Samoa to decide who will finish ninth, here are five things that they can take ahead of their next assignment, which is the 2024/2025 HSBC SVNS World Series:
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05:30 - 26.07.2024
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1. Baptism of fire for a majority of the players
No, really. These Olympic games were a real baptism of fire for the players, most of whom had no previous tournament experience or HSBC action under their belt heading into the tournament.
Of the 15 players that traveled, only Vincent Onyala and Herman Humwa had experienced an Olympic tournament before, while another three -Tony Omondi, Kevin Wekesa and reserve Dennis Abukuse - have played a HSBC SVNS match before.
This means that 10 of the players had only ever played at the challenger, and given the fact the team was pooled against reigning circuit champions Argentina as well as Australia, ranked third in the world, it was always going to be a tall order to get out of the group.
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17:09 - 25.07.2024
Paris 2024 Olympics: Erratic Kenya 7s brushed aside by Samoa in final Pool B encounter
Kenya 7s display toothless performance as Samoa seal potential berth to quater finals with a dominant 26-0 win.
It is no surprise that they lost all three of their games, but they will certainly be using the tournament to remind themselves what high-level sevens rugby is all about.
Also, with sevens rugby, momentum is key. Once you start badly, it takes a toll on you physically and mentally and it becomes hard to recover. Samoa is a team Kenya beat comfortably in the grand final playoff in Madrid, yet they could not find solutions against them at the Olympics, losing 26-0.
2. Patrick Odongo’s pace kept at bay
Daystar Falcons winger Patrick Odongo rose to prominence with his player-of-the-tournament display during the Olympic qualifiers in Zimbabwe. He followed it up with a dominating challenger series display in Dubai, where he scored 11 tried.
Since then, he has really struggled to replicate those standards thanks in large part to injuries. First, he suffered a jawbone injury, and when he recovered, suffered a knee injury during the Madrid playoff.
His knee also had to be patched up as he was wearing a stretcher during the tournament, and it is no wonder his pace was not put to good use.
All the opponents also did their homework on the youngster. However, he has now understood how top level rugby works, and moving forward, will have to be at his best.
3. Young guns need to work on their temperament
The Kenyans battled hard, but lost their heads in critical moments, especially the second half of games.
They collapsed in the second half against Argentina, Australia and Samoa, and only did well against Uruguay in the ninth-to 12th place playoffs, and will face Samoa again on Saturday, hoping to secure that ninth place finish.
In critical moments, they panicked, and their opponents took advantage of it. Against Samoa, they received two yellow cards that could otherwise have been avoided if they had stayed relaxed.
Nonetheless, it is a learning experience, and one that will be valuable as they prepare to take part in the HSBC SVNS series once again.
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02:00 - 25.07.2024
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4. Shujaa must work on more attacking solutions
Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua has done an amazing job since taking over as head coach. He helped the side qualify for the Olympics and won promotion back to the topflight of World Sevens Rugby.
He had to fix the leaky defence, and then find ways to maneuver through the opposition in order to score tries to find the back of the net, and during the challenger, there was an over reliance on using Odongo’s pace as a winger to find a way through and score.
That move got found out, as Kenya barely created inroads from the wings, but rather, had to be forced to use the inside channels, using the sheer brutal strength of the likes of Kevin Wekesa to create opportunities.
Against such high caliber opposition, you need a lot of options to create and score tries to win you matches. Ahead of the 2024/2025 season, Wambua has four months to find more solutions, and with the national sevens circuit kicking off this weekend, the situation will be ideal.
5. Skill training and physicality areas that need attention
This does not need much explaining. The Kenyans need to refine their skills, especially ball handling as well as stepping and kicking.
The number of times they lost all the kick offs especially against Argentina was concerning, and they rarely successfully stepped past the mean defences they faced during carrying situations.
Their ball handling skills also need work, as they found themselves turning possession over from positions that could otherwise have been avoided.
In terms of the physicality, maybe the hot-weather conditions drained them, but they come from a country in a tropical region and should be used to such conditions. They were not effective at bypassing the counter-racks against the opposition, and simply have to be better at this aspect of their gameplan.
17:09 - 25.07.2024
Paris 2024 Olympics: Erratic Kenya 7s brushed aside by Samoa in final Pool B encounter
Kenya 7s display toothless performance as Samoa seal potential berth to quater finals with a dominant 26-0 win.
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