Shujaa drop to ninth place quarter-finals in Hong Kong
Kenya's Kevin Wekesa (right) scores a try past South Africa's James Murphy during their World Rugby Sevens series match at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney on January 27, 2023.
What you need to know:
- A late rally from Shujaa, who trailed 19-0 at the break proved futile when they lost to South Africa 26-17, moments after they went down to Ireland, Dubai Sevens losing finalists, 26-14 in Pool “A” outing
- Shujaa had the previous day lost 29-5 to the 2022/2023 World Rugby Sevens Series leaders New Zealand All Blacks Sevens
- New Zealand, winners of the Sydney and Los Angeles legs of the Series, upheld their clean run, defeating Ireland 26-7 to top the pool with nine points
Kenya Sevens now face Cape Town Sevens champions Samoa in the ninth place quarter-finals at Hong Kong Sevens II on Sunday 4.06am after flopping at the pool stage.
Shujaa lost the battle to Dubai Sevens champions South Africa and Ireland on Saturday, a day after losing to Sydney and Los Angeles champions New Zealand All Blacks.
Hong Kong Sevens I champions Australia will meet Hong Kong, Uruguay take on Japan while Ireland is up against Canada in the other ninth place quarter-final matches.
All Blacks, the bronze medallists in Dubai, will angle themselves for a hat-trick when they meet Argentina, the Hamilton and Vancouver Sevens champions, in one of the Cup quarter-final matches at 5.06am.
South Africa, the losing finalists in Sydney, are up against two-time Olympic gold medallists Fiji at 5.48am, a duel that will precede the other Cup quarter-final showdown between surprise package Spain and France at 5.25am.
Fiji are chasing their maiden victory this season after losing in the final at Hong Kong Sevens I besides settling for bronze in Sydney and Los Angeles.
United States of America face Great Britain in the last Cup quarters duel at 6.11am.
A late rally from Shujaa, who trailed 19-0 at the break proved futile when they lost to South Africa 26-17, moments after they went down to Ireland 26-14 in Pool “A” outing.
Shujaa had the previous day lost 29-5 to the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series leaders New Zealand "All Blacks" Sevens.
New Zealand defeated Ireland 26-7 to top the pool with nine points. They had beaten South Africa 12-7.
South Africa, who had edged out Ireland 14-7 finished second in the pool to advance to the main Cup quarter-finals alongside the All Blacks.
Blitzbokke were swift off the blocks with Shaun Williams, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Christie Grobbelaar touching down a try each. Ricardo Duarttee managed two conversions to put Blitzbokke ahead 19-0 at the break.
Shujaa responded well on resumption with skipper Nelson Oyoo and Jeff Oluoch landing a try apiece before missed conversions as they trailed 19-10.
Blitzbokke pulled away 26-10 when Shaun Williams converted Donovan Don’s try and not even the late try by Billy Odhiambo that Olindi converted would change the tide for the Kenyans.
That saw their hopes of reaching the Cup quarter-finals go up in smoke after they conceded four tries and three conversions against Ireland.
The first half was a see-saw after Anthony Omondi converted Alvin Otieno’s try to cancel Harry McNulty’s try that Mark Roche had converted.
But Roche added the extras after Andrew Smith’s exploits to put the Irish ahead 14-7 at the break. Roche converted his own try to lead 21-7.
Kevin Wekesa put Billy Odhiambo through before he played through Johnstone Olindi, who offloaded back to Odhiambo from a tackle to score. Olindi converted to inch close 21-14 only for Roche to seal a double and hand Ireland victory.
Shujaa are currently placed 13th overall on the series log with 29 points and will now focus on a strong finish in the subsidiary knockout competitions on Sunday to boost their chances of retaining their core status by finishing among the top 11 at the close of the 10th round of the series in Toulouse, France.
