Shujaa hopes to make amends at Vancouver sevens to avoid relegation

The Kenya Sevens rugby team Shujaa has shifted the relegation battle focus to the Vancouver Sevens tourney scheduled for this weekend after the team finished 15th at the just concluded Los Angeles outing.

At Los Angeles they only won one match against the Hong Kong champions as standings rival Spain bagged seven points to unseat them from the 12th spot. Shujaa is now placed 13th globally after a disappointing leg where the team onlybeat sixth-placed Australia (12-7) in the first pool match and later registered losses to 4th-placed Fiji (19-5), 16th-placed-Japan (7-5), 14th-placed Canada (12-5) and 8th placed USA (21-26).

The seventh round set for this weekend will be hosted by Canada at the BC Place Stadium where Shujaa is set up for another pool C meeting withFiji and standings rivals led by Great Britain and Uruguay.

Great Britain is tenth with 47 points while Uruguay is 11th with 29 points, seven ahead of Kenya who will be hunting a cup quarter-final appearance this weekend after Japan foiled that plan with a 7-5 upset.

Ball handling skills were a concern for Shujaa in the 9th-place quarters clashagainst Canada.

A clear chance to level scores right before half time was spilt while Canada had scored one unconverted try through Jark Carson who was assisted by Josiah Morra for a 5-0 halftime lead.

The second half’s retaliatory fight equalised the scores when Alvin Otieno scored the sole try for Kenya but Josiah Morra gave Canada thelast laugh with the decisive try that won the game 12-5 just beforethe final hooter was blown.Following the loss to Canada, coach Damian McGrath’s side was paired with USA Eagles in the 13th place semis where Shujaa scored two tries to grab the half-time lead but a fired USA returned back stronger to score back-to-back tries that changed the odds in a period only Kevin Wekesa managed to cross over the chalk.

The first two tries were scored by debutant Brunson Madigu and half-back Daniel Taabu.USAcame into the match wounded by a 12-14 loss to Spain on home soil.Spain was guaranteed better prospects of reclaiming 12th place on theglobal rankings having witnessed Shujaa drop to 13th place semi-finals after Canada’s loss.

Vancouver hosts, Canada, are just below Kenya on the world standings and willbe braced for tough encounters against Ireland, Australia and Chilein pool D.Worldseries leader New Zealand will still be on riot for crucial pointsthat will guarantee the top four automatic places in the 2024Olympics games at the end of the season.