The stakes are high for Kenyan Shujaa as they head into the Hamilton Sevens this week as the HSBC World Sevens Series resumes.
With the entire Sevens series changing at the end of this season, teams near the bottom are under pressure to perform or be relegated to the Challenger series that starts next season.
Kenya have under-performed by their own standards and after another disappointing start to the season, now face a tough pool where they will need more than one upset if they are to make any impact on the points table and keep their hopes of survival alive.
Pitted in a pool with Cape Town Sevens champions Samoa and Sevens maestros Fiji, the Kenyans also have the unenviable task of facing France, who themselves will be desperate to make an impression.
After finishing 13th in Cape Town, where they picked up three points for their efforts, Damian McGrath’s side still are to pull off one win in the series in the group stages, and given the quality of their opposition, it will be an upset if they get this right in Hamilton.
The series is structured so that at the end of the penultimate event in Toulouse, the 15th ranked team will be relegated to the 2024 Challenger Series while the 12th to 14th ranked teams will face off against the Challenger Series 2023 winner for the final position in the 2024 World Series.
That makes it tough and a battle for survival is on at the moment across the tournament, with no side able to let things slip.
Kenya have returned scrumhalf Brian Tanga and Alvin Otieno to their side for the Hamilton Sevens with Otieno back for the first time since 2018. Floyd Wabwire and John Okoth are set to make their debut after Daniel Taabu and Billy Odhiambo were left out of the squad for the two Australasian tournaments.
