Impressive Shujaa narrowly lose to Australia in Valladolid 7s opener

Nygel Amaista in action for Shujaa during a past match. [Courtesy, X/Shujaa]

Kenya Sevens kicked off their Valladolid Sevens campaign on the back foot after losing to Australia in sudden death 15-10 at Estadio Jose Zorrilla on Friday afternoon.

With the game tied at 10-10 after 14 minutes, the match went to sudden death, where the team that scores first wins, a feat the Aussies grabbed after a gruelling match played for almost 18 minutes.

Henry Hutchison gave Australia the best start when he went over the white wash in the second minute of the match for a 5-0 lead, with Dietrich Roache sending his conversion attempt wide.

Shujaa responded through their speed star, Patrick Odongo, who sold a pair of wheels to ground a kick and chase a ball from Nygel Amaitsa in the fourth minute. Amaitsa, however, failed to add the extras, leaving the game tied at 5-5.

Dietrich Roache handed the Australians the lead at the stroke of half-time when he scored another unconverted try for a 10-5 half-time lead.

In the final half, Shujaa returned with big defensive plays by winning back possession before driving into the Aussies 22 and scoring off a scrum through Samwel Asati to tie the scores at 10-10 after another missed conversion.

Shujaa continued to pile pressure on and won the ball back when the Aussies knocked the ball. Kenya took the lead from the resultant scrum, but it was ruled out after Abukuse was ruled to have been thrown out of the field.

The following two minutes saw both teams miss out on winning the match as big defensive plays and mistakes clouded the match, which stretched two minutes after the hooter before moving to sudden death.

Despite Kenya winning possession again, they lost the line-out throw and this time Australia penalised them by scoring the winner through Dietrich Roache for a 15-10 win.

Kenya will now look to bounce back against South Africa when they face off at 6.08 pm.

Shujaa, who are currently seventh in the SVNS Championship standings with eight points following their mixed show at Hong Kong Sevens last month, are looking for a better finish in Spain for them to stand a chance of qualifying for the World Rugby Sevens Series next season.

With the SVNS Championship ending next week in France, the top eight teams will form the eight core sides in the SVNS Division One next season, while the bottom four will be relegated to Division Two.