Kenya and USA head into day two of the inaugural HSBC SVNS 2 tournament unbeaten at the end of a thrilling day’s rugby in front of a packed and passionate house at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium.
Fittingly, an exciting and enthralling day in the Kenyan capital ended with thrilling drama, as the host nation roared back from 10-0 down in the final match of the day to win with a try in golden point extra time to the delight of the passionate crowd.
But USA were in a statement-making mood as they broke the 40-point barrier twice in three outings. The two unbeaten sides will meet one another in Sunday’s final match at the inaugural HSBC SVNS 2 tournament.
In the women’s competition, promoted HSBC SVNS 3 finalists Argentina stole an early march on the field with a perfect three wins from three.
Kenya and USA rule roost on day one
Homegrown hero Patrick Odongo Okong’o got the packed crowd at Nyayo National Stadium on their feet with a first-half double, as Kenya survived a Canada fightback then pulled away at the end to open their HSBC SVNS 2 account with a 29-12 win.
They then ran in five unanswered tries to leave opponents Belgium scoreless for the second match in a row, piling 33-0 misery on their earlier 40-0 defeat to USA.
And try-saving heroics from Odongo Okong’o took the thrilling final match against unbeaten Germany into golden point extra time, with the scores tied at 10-10.
And Festus Shiasi Safari blitzed straight through the middle in the first minutes of the golden point phase to send Kenya into day two unbeaten. It ended 15-10.
Earlier, Pita Vi scored two of USA’s six tries as they issued a statement of intent with a 40-0 win over promoted Belgium in the men’s competition.
The Eagles Sevens went two for two with a workmanlike 19-14 win over Uruguay. Despite dominating territory and possession, they were still 14-12 down with a minute to play, before Vi came up with the decisive touchdown.
In their final outing of the day, Lucas Lacamp scored four as USA wound-up a dominant day one with an emphatic 41-7 win over Canada.
Felix Hufnagel was the two-try, double-conversion hero for Germany, who came from behind to shock Uruguay 19-14.
Nairobi delivered another thriller as Germany roared back from 17-5 down at the break to beat Canada 26-17. Niklas Koch scored two either side of the break to maintain their perfect record after two matches on day one.
After two defeats in a row Uruguay finally kick started their tournament, with a 31-14 win over Belgium, who scored their first points in Nairobi.
Promoted Argentina off to a perfect start in Nairobi
Las Yaguaretés kicked off their bid for back-to-back steps up the international sevens ladder with a 20-10 win over China in the opening match of the day. Marianela Escalante scored the first HSBC SVNS 2 try, while Talia Rodich added a double.
Rodich scored her third try in two matches as the South Americans came from behind to beat Spain 19-17, courtesy of tries from Maria Brigido Chamorro, Rodich and Sofia Gonzalez.
And they rounded off day one with a thoroughly impressive 28-17 win over neighbours Brazil.
Spain remain in top-four contention despite only one win on opening day. They picked up two losing bonus points from their narrow defeats to HSBC SVNS 3 champions South Africa and promoted Argentina. And, they broke their win duck on their final outing of the day, with a three-try 21-0 win over China, to five useful day one points take a positive mood into their final two matches on Sunday.
Host nation Kenya, too, remain in the hunt for a top-four finish in Nairobi. They got the stadium crowd on their feet with a thrilling fightback 15-12 win over Brazil in their first outing of the day. Janet Okelo, Stella Wafula, Naomi Amuguni all got on the scoreboard, after the legends that are Thalia Costa and Bianca Silva shot the South American side into an early lead.
And they picked up two potentially crucial losing bonuses with late scores against both China (15-12) and South Africa (12-10).
Brazil and China both picked up one win apiece, but are in the lower reaches of the table at the end of day one in Nairobi.
You can watch all the action from day two on Sunday 15 February via RugbyPass TV.
Article courtesy of World Rugby
