INJERA, ASEGO, CREAM OF THE CROP
- By The Punter
Kenya’s Collins Injera emerged the joint top try scorer after scoring five tries in the New Zealand leg of the IRB series last weekend.
In the opening three rounds of the series, the Mwamba RFC winger took his tally to 14, the same as Australia’s Luke Morahan.
Another Kenyan, Lavin Asego, has also scaled the heights and is second among the top scorers with 26 points, right behind New Zealand’s Tomasi Cama who has scored 35 goals.
Asego is also fifth in the top points scorer’s chart with 72. Cama heads the list with 115 points. It is the second time in three tournaments that Injera is topping the log. He opened the 2008/09 season by scoring seven tries in Dubai.
Injera who set a target of finishing among the top three when the season ends in June is already in San Diego and promised that the best is yet to come.
“I know there will be so much attention on me in San Diego but that may open chances for the other players,” he noted. The national seven-a-side team arrived in a cold and windy San Diego on Monday afternoon after an 11-hour flight from Auckland.
Have made changes
Coach Benjamin Ayimba said they will spend one day recovering from the effects of the flight before starting preparations for the weekend’s assignment at PETCO Park.
Cyprian Shimenga, Joshua Gathumbi and Felix Ochieng were expected in San Diego on Tuesday. Geoffrey Kimani, the teams sprint coach returned on Wednesday morning from Wellington.
Some teams have made changes ahead of the USA Sevens, the fourth in the eight-tournament IRB Sevens World Series. Michael O’Connor, the Australia Sevens coach has made two changes. Stanley Hakafonu and Afupisa Taumoepeau have been called up. They take the place of Ed Jenkins and Henry Vanderglass.
Samoa coach, Galumalemana Moors, has also recalled inspirational captain Uale Mai, Lolo Lui and Jerry Moeafou for the San Diego leg.
This has been occasioned by injuries to Reupena Levasa, Mikaele Pesamino and Tom Iosefo. Samoa were beaten by Fiji, Niue and France in Wellington.
The USA Sevens will provide the final flourish of preparation for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in March, with tournaments in San Diego for both men and women. A success story since moving from Los Angeles to San Diego, the USA Sevens provides rugby with its most compelling shop window in America.
2008 matches generated a fan base of 37,500 over the two days, up 40 percent from 2007, when it was held at the city’s baseball.
(11 /02 /09)
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