Two Kenya 7s players added to Vancouver 7s Dream Team

September 21, 2021 4:55 PM

Kenya and South Africa were involved in the first all-African cup final since 2008.

On Sunday, September 19, Kenya and South Africa were part of the first all-African Cup final since Adelaide in 2008, and only the second in series history.

Shujaa duo Alvin Otieno and Jeff Oluoch have been included in the Vancouver 7s Dream Team due to their flawless performance in the recently held event.

Otieno and Oluoch were part of the squad that finished second in the two-day tournament at BC Place, Vancouver.

Otieno who dominated the entire tournament, scored a total of seven tries just three tries short of the South African, Angela Davids who scored ten tries. Oluoch on the other hand was among the top three Kenyans to make the most runs.

[FILE] HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 26: Collins Injera of Kenya celebrates with Alvin Otieno after scoring a try during the match between South Africa v Kenya at the 2020 HSBC Sevens at FMG Stadium Waikato on January 26, 2020 in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Pulse Live Kenya

Champions South Africa dominated the dream team with four of their players being included. The list included Ronald Brown, Ryan Oosthuizen, Angelo Davids and Dewald Human.

USA’s playmaker and captain Kevon Williams has also made the cut. In what was a first for World Rugby 7s, the fans selected the best performers from 14 shortlisted players.

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Other awards

Kenya 7s halfback Daniel Taabu was the Vancouver 7s DHL Impact player of the tournament.

Taabu played a key role in Kenya’s performance and got involved in almost all the tries that Kenya scored in the tournament.

He topped the impact player table with 69 points. This was after making six tackles, eight line-breaks, five offloads and 29 carries for Kenya.

The Kenya 7s squad were the recipients of the Mark of Excellence award following their impressive display across the weekend.

[FILE PHOTO] SINGAPORE - APRIL 14: Daniel Taabu (L) of Kenya celebrates scoring a try with his team mates during the 13th place play-off between Spain and Kenya on day two of the HSBC Rugby Sevens Singapore at the National Stadium on April 14, 2019 in Singapore. (Photo by Paul Miller/Getty Images for Singapore Sports Hub) Pulse Live Kenya

Criteria for winning DHL Impact Player Award

The DHL Impact Player table recognizes such moments using a statistical analysis of individual players’ performances measured against four key criteria – Off-Loads, Carries, Line-breaks, and Tackles.

On execution of these skills during a match, points are awarded – Offloads 2 points, Tackles 1 point, Line Breaks 3 points, Carries 1 point – to create a total score which is tracked through the DHL Performance Tracker.

A winner is announced at the end of each individual tournament and the overall series winner is judged across all 10 legs for Men’s and all 8 for the Women’s.