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March 26, 2009 by Toby Gregory. Kenya will be playing in her 51st IRB Sevens World Series tournament after being part of the inaugural Series in 1999 in Dubai.Since then, Kenya has played 269 matches, won 107 and lost 160 with two draws. In the process, Kenya has cored 3,805 points and conceded 5,372. Kenya's record for the last 1o games is all-square after winning and losing five.
The best winning streak for Kenya was between April 2006 to April 9 2006 with five consecutive wins. The worst run was 17 losses from October 3, 1999 to November 18, 2001 when Kenya was still getting her footing against fully professional sides.
Kenya's highest score to date is a 59-0 drubbing of Singapore in the fifth tournament with a 61-0 defeat at the hands of Scotland in Wellington the biggest blemish.
Kenya features prominently in the records of the 10th IRB Sevens World Series. Lavin Asego ranks as one of the top points' scorer in a game. He scored 18 against Scotland in Dubai. Kenya won 38-0. New Zealand's Tim Nanai-Williams tops this chart with 26 points scored in their 43-7 win over Zimbabwe in Dubai.
Collins Injera appears twice among the top try scorers after crossing the line thrice each in the 33-0 win over France in San Diego and the same number of times against Scotland in Dubai. Kenya won 38-0. Osea Kolinisau (Fiji) and Tim Nanai-Williams (New Zealand) heads the chart with four tries each.
Kenya's 26-24 win against Argentina in the Plate semi-final in Dubai ranks as one of the highest aggregate scores in the 10th IRB Sevens World Series. Fiji's 47-12 win over USA in Dubai ranks highest. The 38-0 win by Kenya over Scotland ranks as one of the widest margin of victory this season.
In Hong Kong, Lavin Asego ranks as one of the all-time top point's scorers with 95. China's Zhang Zhiqiang tops with 202 and Ben Gollings (England) has 182. The Mwamba fly-half has also scored 30 goals in Hong Kong in a list topped by Fiji's Waisale Serevi on 59.
This season, Injera and Australia's Luke Morahan lead the try-scoring chart with 20 each. Argentina's Santiago Gomez Cora and Chris Wyles (USA) each have 16. Asego has scored 97 points and is seventh. Richard Kingi of Australia has 130 points with New Zealand's Tomasi Cama on 115. Asego is second on the top goal scorer's chart with 36, four less than Kingi.
Wales has never won an IRB Seven Series tournament, not even reaching a Cup Final, so this extraordinary victory took everybody by surprise, including the Welsh Rugby community when they woke up the next day with the news headlines saying "Wales, World Sevens Champions".
But this Melrose Cup was not an accident. The Welshmen have a long tradition of playing sevens, especially at club level, and have recently joined the IRB Sevens circuit as one of the permanent squards (along with USA).
Also, they have been participating in the European Sevens circuit, developing young players and bringing new talent to the continent in the past three years.
The turning point for Wales was actually in Wellington, when they stunned the hosts, 28-17 in pool play. That was Wales first victory over the kiwis in any IRB Sevens tournaments since its inception in 2001. Before the Wellington Sevens, New Zealand had won the first 17 games.
“This is amazing, it’s going to take a while to sink in,” he said. “I can’t describe it… the boys havve come a long way over the last three years. Things clicked in Wellington when we beat New Zealand and we continued that form here." said Wales captain Lee Beach after the game.
Wales qualified to the World Cup, finishing second at the European Championships losing to Portugal 26-12 in the final played at Hannover in 2008.
Coach Paul John said to the WRU website: “This achievement is quite unbelievable. We’ve knew that when we beat New Zealand this morning, anything was possible. Our boys have been phenomenal and played some cracking sevens so it is thoroughly deserved. To beat New Zealand was great – it meant we had one big win under belt and fair play, the boys dug in deep and all the squad have been fantastic.”
Full Results - 2009 Sevens World Cup
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