NAIROBI, Kenya, April 1 – National men’s rugby sevens side, Shujaa, continued their poor run at the Hong Kong Sevens, going down 26-17 to South Africa in their final Pool D encounter on Saturday morning.
The Kenyans were a shambles in the first half, losing 19-0 at the interval courtesy of tries by Shaun Williams, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Christie Grobbelaar.
Shujaa came back a rejuvenated side in the second half with captain Nelson Oyoo scoring their first try to make it 19-5.
Despite dominating possession, Damian McGrath’s charges suffered a setback as Donovan Don capitalised on their laxity to score another try, which was converted by Williams to make it 26-5.
With time against them, a supersonic dash by Jeff Oluoch after the restart earned the Kenyans another try before Billy Odhiambo added another at the death.
Shujaa’s defeat to their fellow Africans followed their 26-14 loss to Ireland in an earlier game on Saturday.
They began their campaign with a 29-5 loss to New Zealand.
The Kenyans will next play in the 9th place quarterfinal on Sunday morning at 4:16 am.
