Shujaa battered in London Sevens
For the sixth straight round, the Kenya Sevens rugby team has missed the main cup quarter-finals of the ongoing World Sevens series after a tough penultimate round. Kenya finished at the bottom of the London Sevens after losing all their five matches.
The eighth leg of the World Series was hosted at the Twickenham Stadium in London where Kenya lost 14-5 to Japan. At the end of their two-day campaign Shujaa yet again drop on the standings after log rivals Scotland managed to secure two crucial wins before Shujaa was bundled out by Japan.
Debutant and Blak Blad winger Archadius Khwesa scored the only try that Kenya managed in the 13th place semi-final against Japan.
Smooth conversion
Khwesa beat his last marker and headed closer to the posts for a smooth conversion but the ensuing conversion by Johnstone Olindi went wide to leave Shujaa in a tight fix (5-14). They were left in search of two tries to take the lead but that would not be the case as the opponent, despite not scoring any further points in the returning half, managed to defend to the final whistle.
Kenya had the possession in the last play of the second half but Khwesa while on the prowl was desperately taken out of touch by his last marker to spell the end of Shujaa’s campaign at the bottom of the 16-team competition.
Before the competition, Kenya was 12th with 37 points which was a two-place drop in the global rankings. After the previous round in France the previous weekend, Kenya managed a sole pool win against Wales but lost four other fixtures.
In the two competitions, Kenya has only managed a win in 10 fixtures to leave the newly appointed coach Damian McGrath in a new position - to fight against pending relegation where the team is now just two places above the 16th team that is headed for relegation in August.
Heading to the final round to be hosted in Los Angeles at the Dignity Sports Park on August 27-28, not all is gloom for Kenya courtesy of two narrow defeats to Ireland and South Africa.
-two of the top five ranked teams currently to show the side still can turn around their fortune in the final round.
Kenya had lost 17-14 to fourth-placed Ireland in the last minute and also lost 24-21 to South Africa to miss the top eight cut eventually.
