Kenya 7s staged a second-half comeback to force a 19-19 draw with France in the second match of Emirates Invitational 7s staged at the Sevens Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Both sides were eyeing the second win in the competition with Kenya having beaten Chile 39-7 while France has defeated Spain 21-17 in Pool Blue openers. They would however settled for a draw.
France managed to pin Kenya its own 22 despite the latter having possession. Patience in build-up saw Shujaa retain possession and Willy Ambaka managed to beat their opponents’ defence line and raced from his own 22 to the other end for Kenya’s first try which was converted for a 7-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as the Frenchmen responded with two converted tries that earned them a seven-point lead at halftime.
France added the third try minutes after the second-half restart but Daniel Taabu solo effort try cut the gap back to seven points after a missed conversion.
Ambaka then returned to the scoresheet with his second try of the game that tied the scores at 19-19 after a successful conversion.
The two sides would share spoils after Johnstone Olindi’s effort at the left corner denied France the winning try. Shujaa will be back in action at 5:18 PM for the final match of the pool against Spain.
Kenya Lionesses suffered the second defeat in the competition going down 38-5 to Canada in the second match. The side has lost Japan in the first match.
In Pool Red, Uganda lost their match to Canada 40-5. Nobert Okeny scored their opening try at the left corner but Philip Wokorach missed the conversion.
Canada then ran two converted tries to lead 14-5 at halftime. In the closing half, Uganda let in four more tries.
Men Pools
Red: Canada, Japan, Argentina, Uganda
Blue: Spain, Chile, Kenya, France
Blue fixtures/Results
France 21-17 Spain
Kenya 39-7 Chile
2:44 France 19-19 Kenya
Spain v Chile
5:18 Spain v Kenya
Red fixtures/Results
Japan 21-45 Canada
Argentina 38-14 Uganda
Japan 14-31 Argentina
Canada 5-40 Uganda
Japan v Uganda
Canada v Argentina
Dubai Women’s Pool: Brazil, Kenya, USA, France 1, France 2, Japan, Canada
8:52am: Japan 19-14 Lionesses
12:54pm: Lionesses 5-38 Canada
3:50pm: USA vs Lionesses
Day Two
8:00am: Lionesses vs Brazil
10:34am: France 2 vs Lionesses
1:52pm: France 1 vs Lionesses
