After three rounds of the World Rugby Sevens World Series tournaments, Kenya is on the brink of breaking into the top eight rankings.

In Perth, the third tournament of the Series, Kenya finished 10th despite being drawn in a tough Pool C that turned out to be one of the trickiest. Uruguay, who were returning to the Series, served upset wins over New Zealand (17-12) and Fiji (24-17) on the opening day.

Despite being tamed by Kenya 19-5 in their third match, Uruguay had already qualified for the cup quarter finals. Their giant-killing instincts faded over the next two days where they were convincingly beaten 38-0 by Spain and 33-7 by Great Britain in the seventh place play-off. 

Uruguay demonstrated the fighting spirit which Kenya should emulate in the next three tournaments in Vancouver, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore to rekindle their hopes of finishing among the top eight teams and avoid the play-off in Los Angeles.

Ahead of their assignment in Perth, Kenya had been tracking the performances of Great Britain and Australia whose lukewarm start in Dubai and Cape Town cast a shadow of doubt about their chances of surviving the play-off in L.A.

Slow start

But, Australia put behind their slow start and a massive home support saw both teams land on the podium with the women beating rivals New Zealand 28-26 in the final while the men’s team lost 5-41 to a resurgent Argentina side, a performance that was dedicated to their mentor and coach Santiago Gomez Cora who is recovering from a back surgery and did not travel down under.

Since coming back to the Series after one season off, Kenya has been rebuilding and their performance needs go a notch higher. This is because the winning and losing margins have been slim. 

In Perth, they lost the opening match to New Zealand 14-29 and led 14-0 against Fiji before losing 14-21. Kenya then recorded a slim 26-21 win over USA in the ninth place semi-final before losing 12-19 to New Zealand for the second time.

What is encouraging is the resilience displayed by the players who are slowly establishing their own identity to emulate an illustrious career by their predecessors who stamped their mark on the series. The players of that era, despite economic difficulties, stood toe to toe with some of the best and well-funded programs in a golden career that lasted over a decade.

Dark patch

When the dark patch set in and a goal to maintain a place in the Series was momentarily lost, Shujaa went on a downward spiral. Our playing DNA which was a mixture of brunt and speed was lost and replaced by going through the motion.

The new technical bench started from scratch recruiting players who had the onus of regaining lost glory. For a moment, the ever demanding Kenya rugby fan base put their finger on the keyboards and let their opinions be known on social media.

But, Kevin Wambua and Louis Kisia, the new coaches charged with bringing back the golden era have steadily built a competitive side within a short time and claimed major scalps. AS they prepare for the next tournament in Vancouver, Canada, Shujaa must turn the small margin losses into comprehensive wins to survive.

Rebuilding phase

Other teams in the rebuilding phase are New Zealand, Ireland, USA, and Fiji. Spain have stabilized and maintained their form after the opening three legs while Australia, who are also rebuilding, found their winning ways in the home tournament.

Soon, the Challenger Series will kick off and the bottom four teams in the Series will have an idea of who they are likely to face in the last tournament in Los Angeles in May. So, they will have one eye at maintaining the core status and thinking about the play-off.

Results from Perth

Men

Pool A: South Africa, Argentina, Australia, USA.

Argentina 31 Australia 26, South Africa 24 USA 19, Argentina 19 USA 24, South Africa 10 Australia 7, Australia 19 USA 12, South Africa 17 Argentina 17.

Pool B: France, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland.

Spain 12 Great Britain 7, France 14 Ireland 5, Spain 21 Ireland 5, France 12 Great Britain 0, Great Britain 17 Ireland 0, France 21 Spain 7.

Pool C: Fiji, New Zealand, Kenya, Uruguay.

New Zealand 29 Kenya 14, Fiji 17 Uruguay 24, New Zealand 12 Uruguay 17, Fiji 21 Kenya 14, Kenya 19 Uruguay 5, Fiji 33 New Zealand 5.

Knockout phase

Cup quarter finals: Spain 38 Uruguay 0, Argentina 27 Great Britain 14, Fiji 0 South Africa 19, France 12 Australia 24; Semi-finals: Spain 5 Argentina 40, South Africa 12 Australia 17; Final:Argentina 41 Australia 5.

Third-place playoff: Spain 14 South Africa 7.

Fifth place play-off: France 5 Fiji 17.

Seventh place play-off: Uruguay 7 Great Britain 33.

Ninth place semi-final: USA 21 Kenya 26, New Zealand 42 Ireland 5; Final: Kenya 12 New Zealand 19.

11th place play-off: USA 17 Ireland 19.

Perth standings: 1. Argentina 20, 2. Australia 18, 3. Spain 16, 4. South Africa 14, 5. Fiji 12, 6. France 10, 7. Great Britain 8, 8. Uruguay 6, 9. New Zealand 4, 10. Kenya 3, 11. Ireland 2, 12. USA. 1.Overall: 1. Fiji 48, 2. Argentina 48, 3. Spain 48, 4. South Africa 44, 5. France 40, 6. Australia 30, 7. New Zealand 28, 8. Great Britain 20, 9. Kenya 14, 10. Uruguay 12, 11. USA 5, 12. Ireland 5.