Kenya Sevens assistant coach Kevin Wambua says there is room for improvement ahead of the Hamilton and Sydney tournaments in January.
Wambua said 'run and catch' pass and defensive alignment are the two areas the team will have to improve when they resume training at the end of the month.
"Our 'run and catch' pass needs to be better so that we have less errors in ball handling. Our defensive alignment also needs to be tightened to avoid conceding soft tries," said Wambua. The team returned to the country on Monday night from South Africa, where they collected 12 points from the Cape Town Sevens.
Wambua said as the technical bench, they are coming up with a new game plan for the third and fourth legs in the new year. "We are working on a new game plan for the team. We also have to variate our play and be dynamic to keep our opponents guessing as well as have continuity in attack,” he noted.
Following an underwhelming start in Dubai last week, Kenya bounced back to qualify for the main cup quarters in Cape Town with two wins over Samoa (24-19) and Australia 12-17 and a hard-fought 24-24 draw against Ireland. Kenya bowed out of the Main Cup quarters after succumbing to hosts South Africa 17-5.
Alvin “Buffa” Otieno was the revelation for Shujaa in both tournaments and ended up being named in the Sevens Dream team for the event in Cape Town.
Kenya is ranked 11th with 15 points and Wambua believes they are on an upward trajectory for this season. "Our preparations have been good, having won the Africa Cup Sevens and Safari Sevens has give the team a big boost” noted Wambua.
On the injury front, vice-captain Jacob Ojee suffered an ankle sprain but the technical bench insist it is not too serious. The team will rest for the next ten days and resume training on December 28.
Standings
New Zealand 41
South Africa 41
France 29
Argentina 24
, England 24
Fiji 23
Samoa 19
Australia 18
USA 18
Ireland 17
Kenya 15
Canada 13
Scotland 13
Spain 9
Wales 3
