Our beloved Kenya Sevens knocked reigning champions Fiji out of the park in Sunday’s Seven Series final in Singapore.
The final score stood 30-7 with veteran try machine Collins Injera crossing twice, falling just two tries short of Argentinian Santiago Gomez Cora’s world record of 230 tries in one season.
“Winning this final means more to me than the tries,” Injera said, according to the Telegraph. “I’m not focused on them, because the ultimate goal is to [win a] medal at the Olympics.”
And Injera’s wish might soon become reality.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series only has two stops left – Paris and London – before the sport makes its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro this August. With the Singapore win in the bag, the Kenya Sevens is projected as a very viable contender for the Olympic gold.
Even Fiji’s coach, Ben Ryan, admitted the Kenyan team’s advantage.
“We’re not blaming fatigue, we were beaten by a better team,” he told the Telegraph. “In the final, Kenya extinguished us. They suffocated us and we couldn’t get our game going, the boys are going to learn some lessons here.”
Back home, Kenyans celebrated the historic win on social media as well as in bars across the country. President Kenyatta took to Twitter to deliver a simple yet powerful message: “#Kenya7s you’ve done us proud.”
“This means a lot,” Injera said after the game. “[Fiji is] the strongest team, they are leading the championship, but we kept believing, we kept working hard, we kept playing hard ball, and the results speak for themselves.”
