Shujaa seek redemption at Seville Sevens

Kenya Sevens hope for good fortunes this time around when they launch their Seville Sevens quest against Australia at Estadio la Cartuja on Friday in Spain.

Shujaa takes on the Aussies at 4.49pm in their Pool "D" opening match before seeking revenge against Canada and Scotland on Saturday at 10.45am and 4.30pm respectively. 

Kenya finished last at the previous Malaga Sevens, losing to Japan 26-17 in the semi-final for 13th place. That saw them collect one point for the 2021/2022 World Rugby Sevens Series.

Shujaa, who are now placed ninth in the Series with 23 points, lost to Canada and Scotland at different stages at Malaga Sevens.

"We were not clinical enough at key moments of the game," said Shujaa coach Innocent "Namcos" Simiyu, who believes that composure and believe in the system when under pressure will work for his team.

"Our key focus now is to hit our performance standards consistently in a game and hopefully qualify first for the quarters," explained Simiyu, adding that his boys have recovered well and are ready to go.

"We have done reviews of those key moments hopefully we will execute better. The boys need to learn pretty fast," said Simiyu. 

Shujaa settled eighth in the opening leg of Dubai Sevens I after losing to Ireland 29-7 in the final for seventh place. That handed them 10 points for the Series. 

Then come the Dubai Sevens II and Kenya improved to collect 12 points after losing to Great Britain 10-5 in the final for fifth place.

The Dubai Seven I and II featured three pools where Shujaa reached the Cup quarter-finals despite winning only one match in each of the events.

Shujaa will renew rivalry with Canada and Australia whom they met in the pool stage at Dubai Sevens II. They beat Canada 24-16 but lost to Australia 21-14. Kenya would lose to South Africa 31-19 in the Cup but went on to beat United States 29-0 in the semi-final for fifth place before losing out to Great Britain in the final.

Then Canada would claim revenge against the Kenyans 19-17 at Malaga Sevens' pool stage where they also lost to Wales 19-14 before beating France 26-15.

They dropped to ninth place quarter-finals where they further fell to Scotland 17-12.

Meanwhile, the National Sevens Circuit is back.

The circuit that wasn't held in 2020 and 2021 owing to Covid-19 has six events, taking place in May and June this year.

The George Mwangi Kabeberi Memorial Sevens will kick of the series on May 7-8 at a venue to be disclosed later.

It will be followed by Christie Sevens on May 14-15 in Nairobi with Kakamega Sevens taking place on May 28-29 in Kakamega.

Driftwood Sevens will be staged on June 4-5 in Mombasa while Kisumu City will host Dala Sevens on June 18-19 with Prinsloo Sevens wrapping up the series on June 25-26 in Nakuru City.

KCB won the last circuit in 2019.

The circuit was first held in 1999 with the inaugural winners Impala and Mwamba being the most successful club in the Championship with four wins each.