NAIROBI, Kenya, June 30 – The national junior rugby 7s team finished sixth at the Rugby Africa 7s in Mauritius after losing 28-19 to Zimbabwe in their fifth-place playoff match on Sunday afternoon.
The southern Africans came out guns blazing and were rewarded with two tries in quick succession to take a 14-0 lead within five minutes.
However, Morans steadied themselves and responded with a try of their own courtesy of William Muhanji in the fifth minute.
The start of the second half was a reversal of the first one, Victor Mola latching on to an offload on the right flank before cutting in-field to reduce the deficit.
Unfortunately, almost immediately from the restart, the Cheetahs of Zimbabwe scored their third try to put paid to Kenya’s hopes of clinching fifth place.
Nonetheless, Morans were not willing to give up easily, Joel Inzuga touching down on the white chalk before Amon Wamalwa converted successfully between the posts.
A last-gasp try in the 14th minute by the southern Africans meant that the immediate former Africa 7s champions would have to be content with a sixth place finish.
Kenya had begun the day with a 19-7 loss to South Africa in the quarters of the main cup before dismissing Cote d’Ivoire 22-5 in the semis of the fifth place playoff.
