Paris 2024: Series champions Argentina hand Kenya tough start in France
24th July 2024
Kenya will next face Australia in their second Pool B match at 8PM.
- Kenya are in Pool B alongside Australia, Argentina and Samoa.
- Kenya booked their ticket to Paris 2024 by winning the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens to guarantee their third Olympic Games appearance.
The men’s national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, were handed a difficult start to their Paris 2024 Olympic campaign after they were thrashed 12-31 by World Rugby Sevens league winners Argentina in their opening Pool B match on Wednesday evening.
Kenya, hoping for a first-ever group stage win in their
third consecutive Olympic Games, got off to the perfect start after controlling
proceedings early on.
Chrisant Ojwang cleverly attacked some gaping space in the
Argentina backline before touching down the opening try that Tony Omondi
converted for a 7-0 lead.
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Argentina however regrouped and took the pressure Kenya’s
way just before halftime with Agustin Fraga touching down after a well-worked
scrum move to reduce the deficit to 7-5 at halftime following a missed conversion.
Upon the second half’s resumption, Argentina took possession
from kickoff and Fraga showed brute force in bulldozing his way at the corner.
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A moment of rare possession loss from Argentina then helped
Kenya to restore parity in the match with Ojwang making a clever offload to
Kevin Wekesa who touched down at the corber.
With three minutes left in the game, Argentina turned on the
groove after capitalizing on a botched move by Kenya as Tomas Elizalde, Gonzalez
Rizzoni and Marcos Moneta scored three quick tries to completely take the game
out of Kenya’s reach as they won 12-31.
Shujaa will now face Australia in their second game at 8 PM.
In the other Pool B match, a Henry Hutchison brace and one for Nathan Lawson helped Australia to a 21-14 victory over Samoa in the tournament’s opening match.
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But it was the Pacific Islanders who had the Stade de France crowd on their side, as Motu Opetai intercepted a pass to run in the competition's first try from 50 metres.
After Hutchison and Lawson had put Australia clear, Faafoi Falaniko had the last word for Samoa, finishing a sweeping move to get the crowd on their feet again but it was too little too late.
Playing Schedule
Wed - Argentina 31-12 Kenya
Wed - Australia v Kenya (8pm)
Thur - Samoa v Kenya (3pm)
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