Kenya Sevens beat Samoa to finish 9th at Paris Olympics
Kenya players celebrate with a bell after beating Samoa to finish ninth at the Paris Olympics on July 27, 2024.
Kenya men’s rugby seven-a-side team, Shujaa, have retained their ninth place at the Olympic Games after earning a sweet revenge against Samoa by defeating the islanders 10-5 in ninth place playoff in Paris, France on Saturday.
The match was a repeat of Wednesday’s Group ‘B’ meeting between the teams, which Samoa won 26-0.
Kenya’s John Okoth scored the two unconverted tries that separated winners Shujaa from losers Samoa who got their consolation try through Motu Opetai.
Okoth broke loose on the left flank from just inside Samoan half to score at the corner in the third minute. Co-captain Anthony Omondi missed the conversion as coach Kevin Wambua’s men led 5-0 at the break.
Okoth grabbed his second try of the match at the beginning of the second half as Omondi again missed the extras.
Opetai cut the deficit by scoring an unconverted try, but Kenya defended superbly to run out victors who had embarrassed them 26-0 at the group stage.
The result means Kenya finishes ninth for the second consecutive Olympics after being contented with that position at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics held in 2021. In Kenya’s first appearance at the Olympics in men’s sevens, the team finished second-last out of the 12 competitors.
