NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 10 – Shujaa’s late comeback was not enough as they lost 19-10 to Spain in the ninth-place play-off semi-final at the Singapore Sevens on Sunday.
Shujaa trailed 19-0 at halftime, but put up a fight in the second half with two tries but it was little too late. The Spaniards will now take on France in the final for the 9th place play-off.
The Kenyan boys had a slow start with Spain going 14-0 ahead after two converted tries. Eduardo Lopez and Plo Pla crossed over the line with Juan Martinez converting both.
Javier de Juan then added Spain’s third try of the game as Spain took cruise control of the game.
In the second half though, Innocent Simiyu’s charges pulled up and Kelvin Wekesa crossed over for Shujaa’s first try before Billy Odhiambo scored a consolation after the buzzer.
Shujaa had earlier beaten Japan 12-10 in the quarter final for the 9th place play-off with Herman Humwa and Billy Odhiambo crossing over, one of which was converted by Anthony Omondi.
In the group phase, Shujaa won only one match, beating Canada 24-7. They had lost their opening two matches, losing 12-10 to USA and 26-5 to South Africa.
The Kenyan boys now pick five points from Singapore and will look towards an improved performance at next weekend’s Vancouver 7s.
