NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 20 – The dream of an all Kenyan final at the Safari 7s went up in smoke after Shujaa fell to a 19-5 defeat to South Africa in the Main Cup semis while second string side Morans booked a rematch against the Blitzbokke with a 24-10 victory over Russia Academy on Sunday afternoon.
Shujaa struggled in the absence of dependable great Collins Injera whose tournament ended after injuring his shoulder in the quarter final win over Samurai.
Morans will have a rematch against the South Africans whom they faced in the group stage matches, losing 19-12.
The second tier side once again showed their hunger and determination to get into the core team with a sublime performance against the Russians.
They took in a 19-5 halftime lead with tries from skipper Jeff Oluoch, Johnstone Olindi and Vincent Onyala. Olindi broke the deadlock with a try under the posts when he started a set piece quick then shuffled his legs to dance away from his markers and dot down.
Oluoch then added another try when he intercepted a stray pass to cross over.
A turnover inside Kenya’s 22 saw Olindi dot down Morans third try of the game with the lanky centre steaming across the full length of the pitch to dot down while Olindi converted to seal a 19-0 lead for the side.
Ovchinnikov Ivan then reduced the deficit for the Russians after Kenya lost possession, but that did little to slow down the Morans, with Oluoch dotting down his second try of the game.
Oluoch then showed his pace and strength bumping away from his markers on the left before running down the wing and extending Morans lead.
Ovchinnikov added another for the Russians, but the damage was long gone.
Earlier, Shujaa clearly struggled in Injera’s absence and a series of stray passes and ball handling messes saw the South Africans carry the day.
Skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi crossed over twice with Selvyn Davids adding the third, two of those tries converted by Cecil Afrika. Skipper Andrew Amonde dotted down Shujaa’s only try of the game.
Shujaa will now take on Russia Academy for an opportunity to battle for the bronze medal.