Samoa’s defence was the story of the day as they cruised to a 26-0 victory over Kenya in the Rugby Sevens event at Paris 2024, with the team’s resilience in defence and clinical nature going forward being the highlight of a dominant performance.
However, their defeats in their opening two fixtures against Argentina and Australia mean their fate hangs in the balance as they hope to progress as one of the competition’s best third-placed teams.
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Story Of The Match:
The Samoans began the match on the front foot, quickly making their way towards the try line and looking like they could score immediately, but a good piece of last ditch defending allowed the Kenyans to win possession of the ball at a crucial time, but this would soon be wasted when Samoa would win the game’s first scrum.
The scrum almost proved fruitful in just the second minute, with the Samoans making the most of the advantage gained to get the ball into open space, but their first try would have to wait due to Vaa Apelu Maliko dropping the vital offload, meaning the ball went into touch.
This pain would be short lived for both Apelu Maliko and the team however after some excellent counter-ruck play saw Samoa win the ball back in Kenya’s half before a couple of very quick offloads saw Apelu Maliko manage to get into open space and go over for the game’s first try, but the missed conversion that followed meant that the Samoans were made to settle for a slim 5-0 lead.
The rest of the half was dominated by some ‘what if’ moments for the Kenyans, with their opponents seemingly having an answer for everything being thrown at them, a key factor that culminated in them winning a penalty after a Kenya scrum, before the referee’s whistle would signal the end of the half not long after.
As the second half got underway, Samoa began to make their dominance of the game increasingly obvious, doubling their try tally almost immediately when after a penalty in the final 10, a quick tap and go move from Paul Scanlan allowed him to go over with no pressure and extend his team’s lead, before Faafoi Falaniko’s conversion made it 12-0.
Kenya again showed some bright sparks on an otherwise difficult afternoon, managing to hold the Samoans to the 12-0 lead as the game entered its final minutes, but having very little to shout about going forward thanks to the very impressive defensive play on display by Samoa.
This aspect of the game would be rewarded right before the buzzer for the Samoans, gaining possession of the ball and making their way into Kenya’s half before an excellent team move allowed the ball to be offloaded to Apelu Maliko, who this time made no issue of the catch before going over to extend his team’s lead to 19-0 after the conversion was successful.
The game continued past the buzzer, a fact that allowed Samoa pile on Kenya’s misery at the end, winning the ball back after a promising Kenyan move before the team quickly got into space and allowed for an offload to Steve Onosai, who sealed the deal with the try in the game’s last play, before the successful conversion confirmed an emphatic and impressive victory for the Samoans, restoring their hopes of progression from Pool B in the process.
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Player Of The Match
Vaa Apelu Maliko was a vital cog in the success of his team in this game, recovering from the early setback to score a crucial try as part of a good performance for both himself and the whole team, with a determination to continue this momentum should the team get through being a certainty going forward.
