This archive report was first published on 26 July 2021.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu is calling on his team to pick up their game against South Africa after a narrow 14-19 loss to USA in their opening match.
The match, played behind closed doors at the Tokyo Stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions, saw Kenya's players and coaches blame themselves for not closing out the game with 90 seconds to go when they were leading 14-12.
Simiyu expressed his disappointment, saying, 'We started the game slowly and that was a challenge for us. We gave them two soft tries but the boys managed to dig in and get back in the game. We had a key moment with 90 seconds to go to close the game and we did not manage but we will pick up in the next game against South Africa and I am sure things will be better.'
Only four players in the squad of 12, namely Collins Injera, captain Andrew Amonde, Willy Ambaka, and Billy Odhiambo, were in the last Olympics in Rio. The rest of the players are debutants at the Olympics stage, and Simiyu says he was impressed with their input.
Simiyu added, 'The young players executed well; some of the calls were marginal 50/50 calls, we will see how we will remove those 50/50 calls. It is a must-win against South Africa but we will give it our all.'
Kenya's captain Andrew Amonde is confident that the team will pick up in the second match, saying, 'We came close to the margins and that is all about what we expected at these Olympics. We need to focus on ourselves and compete to win.'
Seasoned superstar Collins Injera, who scored the first try for Kenya, was disappointed that they were not able to grab the win but was upbeat ahead of the tie against continental rivals Blitzbokke.
USA head coach Mike 'Otoyo' Friday backed Kenya against South Africa, saying that he has belief that Shujaa alongside his American side will progress into the quarters.
Friday said, 'Being physical and accurate is going to be critical if teams want to progress from this group.'
