The Kenyans will want to savor this moment for a long time. The Singapore Sevens victors capped an impressive weekend performance with a dominating 30-7 victory over series-leaders Fiji in the finals on Sunday — the team’s first win in 114 tournaments.
Kenya got off to a blistering 20-0 start in the final with superstar Collins Injera recording two tries in the process. The 29-year-old Injera took his all-time tally to 225, just five short of the record set by Argentinian Santiago Gomez Cora.
Fiji’s Jerry Tuwai scored in the second half, but it was too little too late, as both Nelson Oyoo and Frank Wanyama came back with tries of their own for Kenya to nail the victory.
Injera continued from his fine run of form in the semi-finals, where he recorded a winning drop-goal against Argentina to advance Kenya into its first finals since 2013.
“There was pressure, definitely,” said Injera shortly after the match. “I knew I had to nail it, and I just got myself down and nailed it.
Earlier, in the first semi-final, Fiji came from behind on a last-minute thriller to upset South Africa 26-21.
With the score tied and just a few seconds remaining on the clock, Fiji’s Amenoni Nasisila passed to an open Alivereti Veitokani who raced in to score in the corner.
Fiji are still tops on the leaderboard with 147 points — eight points ahead of second-place South Africa with just two tournaments to go in the series. New Zealand stand at third place with 135 points. Kenya moved up to seventh position with 85.