Shujaa seek to charge past South Africa in Dubai Sevens

There will be everything to play for when the Kenya Rugby Sevens team Shujaa and South Africa clash in a pool D fixture at the Dubai Sevens today.

The three-day event marks the beginning of the 2019-20 World Sevens Series that will see teams battle for supremacy in the 10-legged competition that concludes in Paris, France next year.

For Shujaa, the main objective will be to rebuild their reputation in the Series following a disastrous campaign during the 2018-19 season when the team survived relegation by a whisker after finishing 13th with a paltry 37 points.

Kenya, under the tutelage of New Zealander Paul Feeney, head to today’s match against the Blitzboks as overwhelming underdogs having won only three of their last 29 meetings in the World Sevens Series.

The teams last faced off in the Main Cup quarter-finals of last season’s Paris Sevens with Neil Powell’s South Africa claiming a 29-12 victory. 

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Anything short of a win against the six-time Dubai Sevens winners will put Shujaa in a precarious situation as they will have to beat England tomorrow to revive their Main Cup quarter-final hopes ahead of their last match in the preliminaries against Spain. 

“It’s a difficult start and we know we have to step up from the Olympic qualifiers because the caliber of opposition is not the same. We are now facing some of the best teams in the world,” Feeney said before the team left for Dubai. 

“England and South Africa pose us a big challenge and each of those teams has the potential to win every tournament in the Series. We just want to make sure we are competitive,” he added. 

Feeney will be hoping that his side builds on their momentum from last month’s African Olympic qualifiers in Johannesburg where they won the tournament with the best defensive record having let in four tries in six matches. 

At the same time, the Kenya women’s Sevens team, Lionesses, will also be in action in the Dubai invitational event where they are scheduled to face Japanese sides Aruka Queen Kumagaya and Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix, France Sevens Development and Belsevens of Belgium. 

Lionesses will use the tournament to prepare for next year’s (April) Hong Kong Sevens where teams will vie for core status in the World Women’s Sevens Series.