World Sevens Series wide open: Maloney

Fiji Sports

"World Sevens Series wide open".TV commentator Sean Maloney gives us his thoughts on what was an epic HSBC Singapore 7s where Kenya showed that every tournament is up for grabs.

Well where to start. Kenya have shown signs over the last few rounds that they are a side that can push the big name sides and they took Fiji to the wire in Hong Kong. They would have taken a lot of belief out of that. The start they got in the final in Singapore, we were struggling for superlatives in the commentary box, it was extraordinary. It was ridiculous what was happening.

Fiji made some errors which you wouldn't expect them to make, trying to work out of their own 22. Errors you won't see them make again. They got that first try in the second-half, but then Kenya just turned it on again and it was a pleasure to watch.

I can't imagine any team coached by Ben Ryan would come into the final thinking it was a foregone conclusion, but if you look at the body language pre-kick off, the Kenyans looked relaxed and calm while the Fijians looked a bit more nervous, so you can read into that if you want. Kenya then went and translated that calmness into a clinical performance.

Elsewhere, I was impressed by Samoa. I can't wait to see the Olympic repechage and Samoa. A lot of the teams in that tournament are equally matched which will make for thrilling viewing. I think Samoa will be the favourites for that with the likes of Selesele and Mealoi leading the charge.

The plate win in Singapore shows they are moving in the right direction and will go into the repechage full of confidence. In terms of players who impressed, well you can't look past Fiji's Kitione Taliga and South Africa's Kwagga Smith.

They were two players who stood out for me. I don't know what South Africa head coach Neil Powell has been working on with Kwagga in training but it must have worked. He was absolutely immense this weekend. Seabelo Senatla also incredible this weekend as also.The key thing to learn from Singapore is that the series table isn't all that going into the tournaments.

It doesn't mean anything. On any day any team can come away with the win and that's why we love sevens. I am excited to see Paris and London, the finale is going to go gangbusters.

Source: World Rugby