Reported by Kyle Caravelli
(Carson, California) 12 February 2006 – Victor Sudi Simiyu scored a pair of tries as Kenya downed the United States 26-12 to claim the USA 7s Shield championship.
In a rematch of Saturday’s drawn pool contest, Sudi Simiyu twice scored in stoppage time. His first five-pointer gave Kenya a 14-7 halftime edge. His second sealed the contest.
After a winless first day, the Eagles finished 1-4-1 during the two-day USA 7s tournament. Chad Erskine and Joe Killefer earned their first 7s caps, two of seven Eagles who debuted on the IRB circuit in the past two weeks.
During pool play, the USA dropped matches to France 21-5 and England 45-0, and tied Kenya 5-5. On day two the Eagles lost to Uruguay 24-19 and beat Mexico 33-0, before falling to Kenya.
It was a frustrating opening day as poor ball handling proved costly against France, while the Eagles were soundly defeated by England. On top of that, playmaker Jone Naqica was sidelined for the remainder of the tournament with a high ankle sprain.
In the final pool match against Kenya, the Africans’ Sudi Simiyu scored in the first half, while Jason Pye scrambled in off a scrum in the second period.
On Sunday the USA conceded a Uruguayan try at the end of the first half to go to intermission trailing 17-7, and couldn’t catch up. In the Shield semifinal against Mexico, the USA earned their first win with tries coming from Dave Anderson, Justin Stencel, Mike Palefau, Todd Clever, and captain Kevin Whitcher.
Scoring in the Shield final started with Kenya’s Dennis Mwanja. Then veteran Mose Timoteo’s kick materialized into Jason Pye’s second try of the tournament. Just before halftime, Sudi Simiyu slipped through a staggered Eagle defense to bring the score to 14-7.
Early in the second half Clever fended off an African defender to bring the Eagles within two. But Kenya’s Patrick Onyango scored the next try, and just before the final whistle Sudi Simiyu walked in for his second of the match.
(Disclosure: Kyle Caravelli is son of the USA 7s coach, Al.)
Results:
France 21 USA 5
England 45 USA 0
USA 5 Kenya 5
Uruguay 24 USA 19
USA 33 Mexico 0
Kenya 26 USA 12
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Posted by: plfary lyjrf | 02 March 2009 at 02:58