Manu 7s 13th overall after Sydney shocker

By Thomas Airey 02 February 2020, 10:00PM

Samoa have sunk to 13th place in the World Rugby Sevens Series standings, repeating their second-to-last finish from Hamilton in Sydney.

They got their only win of the tournament in the 15th place playoff game - a 19-12 triumph over Kenya.

The wooden spoon decider started perfectly, with Tofatuimoana Solia getting on the board immediately after breaking through three tackles.

Joe Perez was almost in again for Samoa, but for a timely intervention from a Kenyan player on the goalline.

It was all going the Manu's way though, with Kenya unable to keep possession and offending at the breakdown often.

But Samoa couldn't convert pressure into points, and Kenya scored through Willy Ambaka completely against the run of play on their first trip over halfway.

That meant Kenya took a 7-5 lead into halftime, with Samoa facing the prospect of coming last at a tournament for the first time since Paris 2018.

Elisapeta Alofipo wasn't having that though, and his chip and chase brought the Manu over halfway after a couple minutes of play.

He then burst through the Kenyan line to score under the posts untouched with around a quarter of the game remaining, giving Samoa a five point lead.

Kenya tied it up though, as some overcommitment on defence from Samoa allowed an easy line break and try for Vincent Onyala with two minutes remaining.

Their restart didn't go 10 metres, and some good thinking at the free kick from Laaloi Leilua sealed the win for Samoa.

He kicked in behind, and when the ball took a weird bounce around the goal posts Paulo Scanlan was on hand to dot down and make it 19-12.

Samoa's overall poor performance in Sydney means they will face another tough draw for the Los Angeles Sevens at the end of the month, which marks the halfway point of the season.

Tags

Rugby union
By Thomas Airey 02 February 2020, 10:00PM

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