After suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Fiji, Great Britain and Uruguay, the Kenya sevens men’s rugby team, Shujaa, redeemed itself with a 17-12 victory over rivals South Africa at the Vancouver sevens at the weekend.
The breakthrough was also Kenya’s first in the three-day Vancouver sevens hosted by Canada at the BC place stadium.
This was the first win for Shujaa over Boks since the return of the series that had been halted over the Corona Pandemic challenges in 2021.
Shujaa suffered losses to Fiji (31-12), Great Britain (26-12) and Uruguay (21-19) during the pool meetings and another loss would not have augured well for a team that is a blend of youth and experience.
But that was not the case as Coach Damian McGrath’s boys did summon their willpower and confidence by beating teams that had been highly tipped to prevail over them in the tournament.
The long awaited win against South Africa was courtesy of a spirited performance especially in the second half.
Boks skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi scored the two tries in the first half while Shujaa replied through George Ooro right before the break.
The second half saw Kenya coming out with their guns blazing with Brian Tanga hitting the leveler and Tony Omondi converting for another 12-all score.
John Okoth then punished a loose ball for a decisive unconverted try for Kenya to end a disturbing losing streak to South Africa who dropped to meet Canada.
The three tries thus sent the continental rivals to the 13th place semifinals as Kenya matched on to battle for standings ascension against 12th placed Spain in the 9th place semifinals.
Kenya and Spain are separated by three points in the global standings and have seemingly evaded relegation.
The teams which are below them in the pecking order including those in positions 12, 13 and 14 will feature in four-nation playoffs against the Challenger Series winner to determine their fate.
Unfortunately, time is running out and after Vancouver, three legs with a maximum of 66 points will be in the offing.
Three countries including Hong Kong, Singapore and Toulouse will feature in the decisive tournaments to confirm relegation fate for Spain (12th), Kenya (13th) and Canada (14th).
Meanwhile, 11th placed Uruguay eased into the cup quarterfinals after beating Fiji and Kenya during the group stage and could widen the gap to ten points.
Spain had come off two losses to Samoa and New Zealand and a 19-all draw with USA before upsetting Canada en-route to a semi-final date with Kenya.
