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RWC 7s: Kenya beaten by Japan to finish 16th

By Eric Njiru | Mon 23 Jul, 2018 01:43

Kenya's disappointing campaign at the 2018 Sevens World Cup ended in despair as they went down 14-26 to Japan in the 15th place final on Monday July 23 to be classified as the 16th of 24 teams at the just concluded World Cup in San Francisco, USA.

The loss to Japan was the fourth straight to Kenya following up on losses to Scotland in the round of 16, Ireland in the Challenge Cup quarters and Samoa in the 13/16th placing clash.

Also read Samoa downs Kenya 7s

Japan's Ryota Kano cancelled out Sammy Oliech's opener before Josefa Lilidamu doubled the lead. Jeff Oluoch would put Kenya back to the lead but Kameli Soijema ensured Japan have the win before Jone Naikabula put it past Kenya's reach.

The defeat means Kenya finish 16th, above only eight teams(Chile, Hong Kong, Uganda, Uruguay, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe and Jamaica) all non-core teams in the HSBC World Sevens Series.

At San Francisco, Kenya won only one match, the pre-round of 16 where they came from behind to beat Tonga 19-7, the least ranked team in the tournament. This was a big drop in performance after reaching semis in the last two editions of the Sevens World Cup.

In the round of 16,Kenya 7s blew away a 26-0 lead at the interval to lose 31-26 to Scotland in one of the greatest comebacks in history.Ireland would beat Kenya 24-14 in challenge trophy quarters beforeSamoa won 19-17 and then Japan who put the last nail in their coffin.

2018 Sevens World Cup, -Kenya results

FT: 19-07 Tonga (Pre round of 16),
FT: 26-31 Scotland (Round Of 16),
FT: 14-24 Ireland (CQ Finals),
FT: 17-19 Samoa ( 13/16 Place)
FT: 14-26 Japan(15th place)

Sunday July 22, 2018

FINALS
Bowl 23/24
Zimbabwe 33 Jamaica 21

Bowl 21/22
Tonga 14 Papua New Guinea 31

Bowl 19/20
Uganda 38 Uruguay 28

Bowl Final
Chile 20 Hong Kong 7

Challenge 15/16
Kenya 14 Japan 26

Challenge 13/14
Canada vs Wales

Challenge 11/12

Russia vs Samoa

Challenge trophy final
Australia vs Ireland

Championship 7/8 place
Scotland vs France

Championship 5/6 place
USA vs Argentina

Bronze final
South vs Africa Fiji

Championship final
England vs New Zealand

Semi finals

Bowl 21/24 placing
Tonga 31 Zimbabwe 5
Papua New Guinea 52 Jamaica 7

Bowl Semis
Chile 20 Uganda 17
Uruguay 5 Hong Kong 31

Challenge 13/16 place
Kenya 17 Samoa 19
Japan 20 Russia 26

Challenge Trophy semis
Canada 7 Australia 19
Ireland 27 Wales 12

Championship 5/8
Scotland 0 USA 28
Argentina 26 France 15

Cup semis
South Africa 7 England 29
Fiji 17 New Zealand 22

Pre-round of 16 results - Friday July 20

1. Kenya 19 Tonga 7
2. Canada 29 Papua New Guinea 21
3. France 50 Jamaica 0
4. Wales 33 Zimbabwe 12
5. Samoa 45 Uganda 7
6. Russia 21 Hong Kong 7
7. Japan 33 Uruguay 7
8. Ireland 17 Chile 12

Round of 16

9. Scotland 31 Kenya 26
10. Argentina 28 Canada 0
11. Australia 17 France 22
12. England 19 Samoa 15
13. New Zealand 29 Russia 5
14. Fiji 35 Japan 10
15. South Africa 45 Ireland 7
16. USA 35 Wales 0