Kenya Shujaa fail to grab vital points in Vancouver Sevens

The team dropped to 12th on the overall standings with four legs remaining.

Kenya’s Shujaa dropped to 12th on the World Sevens Series overall standings following a far from impressive performance in the Vancouver Sevens where the team registered one win.

Shujaa, who lost all their preliminary matches against New Zealand, Ireland and Spain, faced Wales in the ninth-place quarter-finals on Sunday night, a match the Kenyans won 28-0 before ending their campaign with a 12-7 defeat to Scotland in the ninth-place semi-finals yesterday.

The dismal showing in the Canadian city handed Kenya Sevens head coach Paul Feeney a reality check and the New Zealander has his work cut out with two legs of the Series remaining before the side competes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The six points collected in Vancouver brought Shujaa’s tally for the season to 35 points and they are currently 22 points below the top eight, which is Feeney’s target.

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It will be difficult for the Shujaa faithful to stomach the fact that the side picked a total of 10 points in Los Angeles and Vancouver, bearing in mind that the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) sent its strongest squad to North America.

Former captain Oscar Ouma and Impala Saracens fly-half Samuel Oliech were recalled to the side, joining their senior counterparts William Ambaka, Collins Injera and Andrew Amonde, who returned earlier following a protracted wrangle with KRU.

In Vancouver, Shujaa were once again undone by their inability to hold on to a lead in the preliminaries, a problem that has been derailing the side in recent times.

While the defeat to current Series leaders New Zealand in their opening match was excusable, it was Shujaa’s loss to newly promoted Ireland (14-12) and Spain (17-14) that left many doubting the Kenyans’ capabilities.

Kenya’s only win in Vancouver came against Wales in a match that was controlled by Feeney’s men, who took a fourth-minute lead after Vincent Onyala crossed the whitewash for a try that was converted by Oliech.

Oliech would then convert his own five-pointer to stretch Kenya’s advantage to 14-0 before Jeffrey Oluoch ensured his side led 21-0 at half-time with a third try.

Collins Injera later sealed the victory for Kenya with another try with Oliech adding the extras.

With the postponement of the Hong Kong and Singapore tournaments which were moved from April to October over the corona virus, Feeney’s charges will not be involved in the World Sevens Series until May when the London and Paris events will be held.

However, Feeney previously hinted that the side will look for competitive fixtures during that two-month period in order to maintain match fitness.