In their opening match at the Singapore 7s played on Saturday, Kenya 7s suffered a 26-19 defeat against France despite putting up a strong fight.
The team had hoped to start the weekend on a positive note after losing all their matches in the previous week, with the aim of avoiding the relegation playoffs.
Kenya began the game with impressive play, which led to a penalty that Herman Humwa quickly tapped and scored for a 7-0 lead.
However, Leraitre Paul and Jordan Sepho scored two successive tries to put France ahead with a score of 12-7.
Kevin Wekesa then brought Kenya back into the game with a try, which was converted to give his team a slim 14-12 lead heading into the break.
After the break, Alvin Otieno set up Anthony Omondi for a try at the corner to extend Kenya’s lead to 19-12.
However, France came back strong, with Joseph Jefferson Lee scoring a centre-post try that was converted by Jean Pascal Barraque to tie the scores at 19-19.
In the final seconds of the game, Kenya had possession and looked poised for victory, but France stole the ball off an unsecured ruck and Rayan Rebbadj’s inside pass to William Iraguha led to the winning try.
Next, Kenya 7s will face the USA at 9:24 AM East African Time.
Singapore 7s results
Argentina 10-0 Ireland
Great Britain 19-17 Japan
South Africa 0-19 Australia
New Zealand 47-0 Hong Kong
USA 21-24 Uruguay
France 26-19 Kenya 7s
Spain vs Samoa : 06:42
Fiji 7s vs Canada: 07:04
Argentina vs Japan: 07:56
Great Britain vs Ireland : 08:18
South Africa vs Hong Kong : 08:40
New Zealand vs Australia : 09:02
USA vs Kenya 7s : 09:24
France vs Uruguay : 09:46
Spain vs Canada : 10:08
Fiji vs Samoa : 10:30
Ireland vs Japan: 11:22
Great Britain vs Argentina : 11:44
Australia vs Hong Kong : 12:06
New Zealand vs South Africa : 12:28
Uruguay vs Kenya 7s : 13:07
France vs USA : 13:35
Samoa vs Canada : 14:05
Fiji vs Spain: 14:33
