Kenya and South Africa are representing Africa in the Rugby tourney at the Rio games. They are competing with 10 of the best Rugby Sevens teams on the planet to win the first Olympic Rugby Gold Medal since 1924.
South Africa comes to these Olympics as second place favorites to win Gold behind Fiji. The Springboks will look to avoid any upsets in their pool to qualify for the knockouts. Their team will look to the broad experience on their squad and the speed on the flanks to give them an edge over their opponents.
Fortunately for them, their campaign is off to a good start. The Springbrook are in a positive frame of mind after beating Spain 24 -0 and dominating France 26-0 in their second game. They will hope to cruise through Pool B where they face Australia last on Wednesday.
South Africa’s headline player is Cecil Africa who contributed 14 points in their first game against Spain. It’s safe to say that Australia’s key to victory is to finding a way to shut him down.
The Kenyan Sevens Team(Photo by Rugby 365)
From East Africa, Kenya also came into the Olympics as strong contenders. They made a strong case for themselves when they won the Singapore Sevens this year. However, that was quickly dispelled by their 31-7 loss against Britain.
In their second game, they made a promising start with a quick try. But New Zealand soon found their feet and proved to be too strong for our Kenyan counterparts winning 28-5. Kenya now faces a tricky game against Japan who have made a name for themselves as giant killers.
Kenya now needs a massive win to qualify, their coach Benjamin Ayiba will have to put his hopes in their winger Collins Injera who is the world’s all-time leading try scorer in the World Rugby Sevens with 235 tries in 10 seasons.
The two best sides in each Pool will qualify for the quarter-finals and will be joined by the two best third-placed teams.
Other teams to watch out for will be Fiji, the underdog Japan and Britain which contests with the best players from Scotland, Wales, and England.
DAY ONE RESULTS
Pool A:
Fiji 40 Brazil 12
Argentina 17 USA 14
USA 26 Brazil 0
Fiji 21 Argentina 14
Pool B:
Australia 14 France 31
South Africa 24 Spain 0
Australia 26 Spain 12
South Africa 26 France 0
Pool C:
Japan 14 New Zealand 12
Britain 31 Kenya 7
Britain 21 Japan 1
New Zealand 28 Kenya 5
Featured Photo: Cecil Africa Contributed 14 Points in The First Game (photo by Rugby 15.za)
