The 2013/14 HSBC sevens series drew to a close at the weekend in London, with the Kenya sevens bowing out at the Plate final, the same stage as they did in the previous weekend in Glasgow.
It was supposed to be the season that the side finally ended their drought at the annual circuit and pick up a cup title from the nine on offer during the season. With sevens guru Paul Treu taking over just before the second leg of the series in Australia, hopes were high.
Treu came into the Kenyan fold off an impressive nine years with the Blitzbokke, winning a total of 14 cup titles and one overall title. Surely he would take this side to at least one cup title in his first stab, what after a cup final and four appearances in the cup semi finals during the previous season?
In that season, the side finished in 5th place on the overall log, with 99 points. Treu had mentioned that he was aiming for a top ten finish in his first season, most had taken this as a conservative target by the South African.
The side picked up 10 points in their first outing under Treu at the Dubai leg, after bowing out at the Plate Semi final. This feat would be repeated in the next leg in South Africa, as silent concerns started growing among the Kenya rugby fraternity.
These concerns continued to grow as the side kept on performing below the expectations of most. These cries hit a crescendo in the next four legs as the side wobbled in Vegas and Wellington, failing to reach the cup quarter finals. Though they did pick it up in Japan with another Plate semi final appearance, the side hit a season low in Hong Kong picking up the Shield title and 3 log points.
Two appearances in the Plate final in Glasgow and London saw the side finish in seventh place, on 84 points. We are all in agreement that this was not the mark most were hoping for at the beginning of this campaign, but looking at it closely, it is not as bad as you think.
This was always going to be a transition season for us, the new technical bench found a side that had already had systems inculcated in them. If Treu had found the side as raw as Friday did, there is no telling the heights we would have hit. Think of it as a farmer finding a virgin piece of land, cultivating it would be much easier that working on a piece of land that had already been used in the previous season, ask a farmer.
As I have mentioned here before, the new technical bench had to first ‘format’ the side. Without the luxury of a pre season they had to take a risk and do this at the possible expense of a deep in results. With this in mind you’ll start to appreciate what the side has achieved this season.
First the side has seen a great improvement as far as discipline goes especially at the breakdown. Kenya moved from the most penalised side in the last two seasons to conceding the least amount of penalties this season in the series.
We have also seen a shift in my opinion, from a specific set of players to set systems and a wider pool of players exposed to this level. Indeed this shift to systems came in with Friday. The exposure of more players, the age old problem of player unavailability will have a solution.
We have looked disjointed over the season, with little seeming to go our way, but you’ll admit that the last two legs have seen a lot of positives. Of the many, my pick would be the kick off retention and reception, perhaps one of the most critical areas in the sevens game. Apart from the last game against South Africa we were almost flawless in the other 15 matches.
The smaller margins seen against sides that blew us away in the previous legs this season was also an indication of growth. The results against Fiji immediately come to mind, and the win against South Africa in Scotland.
We are slowly growing into the systems and it was good for the side to put up this display heading into the Commonwealth games set to start on the 26th of July. The side has a little over a month to tighten up any lose ends and start fulfilling the potential we all know they have.
KWISHA….Nimeruka Nje!!!
