Shujaa lose to Spain as Cape Town 7s semis hangs in balance

Patrick Odongo in action for Shujaa. [Kenya Sevens,x]

Kenya Sevens once again registered mixed show at the World Rugby Sevens Series after blowing hot and cold at the ongoing Cape Town Sevens in South Africa on Saturday.

Shujaa came from 12-0 down to stun Australia 19-12 and kick off their Group B campaign on the front foot. However, they lost to Spain 14-7 after wasting many chances of taking the lead.

Shujaa who are in Group B alongside the Australia and Dubai Sevens silver medalists Spain needed to win their opening two match to qualify for the semifinals to be played on today.

The Cape Town Sevens introduces a new competition format aimed at enhancing player welfare. The tournament features four pools of three teams each, with pool winners advancing directly to the semifinals.

Teams finishing second and third will contest placement matches for fifth to eighth and ninth to twelfth positions, respectively.

In the crucial game, Francisco Cosculluela gave Spain the lead after Shujaa wasted a host of chances in the opening half, scoring at the stroke of half time for 7-0 lead after converting his own try.

However, Patrick Odongo proved once again that he is fast when he picked the ball from inside his own half before racing to the try box, leaving more than three Spanish defenders on the ground to score a center post try that was converted by Nygel Amaitsa for 7-7 draw.

Another series of passion by Kenya followed, swinging the ball left to right but with no luck as Spain defended their spaces well.

The European outfit would have the last laugh a minute to the hooter when Jeremy Trevithick went over the white wash before Cosculluela converted for 14-7 win.

In the first match, Australia begun the match on the front foot after a long kick forced Kenya to their own try box leading to a scrum five meters from the white wash, an advantage the Australians capitalized to move 7-0 up after James Turner grounded the ball and Hayden Sargeant converted.

Another long kick from the restart forced a line out that was not kept straight by Shujaa and the resultant scrum saw Australia score an unconverted try through Sargeant for a 12-0 lead,

Shujaa co-captains Samwel Asati and George Ooro would rally themselves after the slow start with a couple of big offloads and carries that moved Kenya deep into the Australian territory as the Kelvin Wambua charges pushed for a response.

The response indeed came through Kevin Wekesa who finished off a long offload from Abukuse to trail 12-7 after the hooter.  Nygel Amaitsa converted the try.

In the final half, Kenya took the lead after a penalty try was awarded when the Australian defense took out Abukuse who was in for try after a beautiful kick and chase attempt.

With the Aussies reduced to six men, Shujaa capitalized on the numerical advantage through Ooro who bulldozed his way to score an unconverted try at the right corner to complete a much needed comeback win.

The two defeats left Kenya’s semis fate hanging on a thread.