Will lightening strike twice on Shujaa?
National rugby sevens team ‘Shujaa’ shrugged off three consecutive losses to overpower hosts Japan 21-7 for a consolation in the ninth place semi final played at the Tokyo stadium yesterday.
It was sweet revenge for Shujaa who were knocked out by Japan at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Shujaa kicked off the match under pressure when the hosts captain Matsui Chihito was a beneficiary of a missed tackle to score the opener for a 7-0 lead after two minutes of play before Kenya brought in admired power to reply back with three converted tries by Alvin Otieno, Jeff Oluoch and Andrew Amonde as Johnstone Olindi scored the three conversions.
Kenya expressed great improvements and made less errors compared to their first three encounters where defensively, Kenya was up to par having conceded just six tries but a compromised execution caused by handling errors while on attack deprived them of a good finishing ability when the team needed to score two tries in their day’s opening match against Ireland.
Kenya face Ireland again today for the second time as they meet for the ninth place final.
Kenya’s third consecutive group C defeat forced them to be relegated to play in the ninth place semis where they were paired with Japan while Ireland was paired with Democratic Republic of Korea from pool A.
Meanwhile, a new-look Fiji swept past Britain in a re-run of the 2016 Olympic final to set up a Cup quarter-final against Australia in the men’s rugby sevens at Tokyo Stadium on Tuesday.
Pool games
The three other quarter-finals see New Zealand take on Canada, Britain play the United States and South Africa against Argentina.
After two pool games on Monday that the misfiring defending champions described as “hard day at the office”, Fiji made no mistake against a fancied British side in both sides’ final pool outing.
Fiji racked up a 33-7 victory on the back of more structured attacking gameplan and an effective sweeper system that fired a hard-hitting defence at an empty stadium in hot, humid conditions punctuated by rain showers.
“It was not perfect,” said Fiji captain and playmaker Jerry Tuwai. “We were not playing the way we wanted, even in that game. But we are thankful that we came out on top.
“We improved our defence today, and we are looking forward to our next final.”
Three quick-fire first-half tries from Asaeli Tuivuaka, Sireli Maqala and Jiuta Wainiqolo left it 19-0 at half-time.
Tuivuaka was gifted the easiest of second tries shortly after the restart as an attempted offload by Robbie Fergusson went to ground just in front of the posts.
Britain, who claimed silver in Rio after losing 43-7 to Fiji in the final, were unable to get out of their own half, and even 22m area, for long periods as the Fijians superbly marshalled them in a powerful display of man-and-ball defence.
A short-lived fightback, however, saw Ben Harris finally open the scoring for Britain midway through the second half.
But it was a dominant Fiji that had the last word, Aminiasi Tuimaba touching down after a Maqala chargedown.
Britain’s England veteran speedster Dan Norton said his team’s performance didn’t “represent us as a team. We’re a lot better than what we showed there”.
“It’s a nice wake-up call in a way. We know now that we need to take a step-up each day. It’s about resetting and showcasing how good we can be over every minute of the game.”
Fellow sevens powerhouses New Zealand and South Africa, bronze medallists in Rio, both came through unbeaten.
Fiji-born Wallaby Seru Kerevi, one of the few full 15s internationals in Tokyo, again showed off his X-factor, the powerful centre stepping through for Australia’s opening try against New Zealand.
Nick Malouf added a second as their trans-Tasman rivals struggled to find a way out of their own half.
But the Kiwis, long the dominant force in world sevens, dug deep to hit back with tries from Dylan Collier, sin-binned soon after for taking a player out in the air, and Andrew Knewstubb, both converted for a hard-fought 14-12 victory.
In the final pool match, Joe Schroeder crossed first for the USA before the Blitzbokke roared back with a Selvyn Davids double either side of Stedman Gans try.
Brett Thompson clawed one back for the Americans, but the Boks closed down the game to secure their quarter-final against a dangerous-looking Los Pumas side.
