Shujaa fall to South Africa in Vancouver Sevens final
Kenya's Jeff Oluoch (right) tries to avoid the tackle of USA's Madison Hughes (left) in their men's pool C rugby sevens match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo on July 26, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Kenya Sevens had beaten the United States 19-14 in the quarterfinal and Ireland 38-5 in the semifinal.
- South Africa stopped Spain 54-5 in the quarters England 26-13 in the semis. The 2021 Series stays in Canada for the Edmonton Sevens this weekend.
Is Kenya Sevens back?
That was the question as Innocent "Namcos" Simiyu's side reached their first Cup final in the World Rugby Sevens series in three seasons at Vancouver Sevens on Sunday night in Canada.
However, Kenya, who had lost to South Africa at the group stage, failed to find the right formula to stop the Blitzboks, losing to them again 38-5 at BC Place.
The clinical South Africans stormed to a 24-0 lead at the break, before blowing away Kenya, who scored their consolation points through Daniel Taabu's try.
Angelo Davids landed s brace of tries for the Blitzboks in the first half alongside Sakoyisa Makata and Ronald Brown, as Dewald Human and Ronald Brown managed a conversion each for their half time lead.
Then Christine Grobbelaar crossed the line with Human sdding the extras as Blitzboks stretched their lead to 31-0 before Taabu's strike to reduce the deficit at 31-5.
South Africa, the three times Series champions, gave their continental rivals no chance as Darren Adonis had the final word to convert his own try for victory.
South Africa had finished fourth during the 2019/2020 Vancouver Sevens.
Nevertheless, it has taken Simiyu again to have the team reach the Cup final after his predecessors Paul "Pau" Murunga and Paul Feeney failed.
The last time Kenya had reached the final was during the 2017/2018 World Sevens Series.
Interestingly, it was at the Vancouver Sevens and Hong Kong Sevens where they lost to Fiji 31-12 and 24-12 in both occasions.
It was the first all-African Cup final since 2008 Adelaide, and the only one in the series' history.
The tournament in Vancouver had only three pools after some of the core teams in the Series; New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Argentina and Samoa failed to show up owing to Covid-19 travelling restrictions.
Kenya Sevens had beaten the United States 19-14 in the quarterfinal and Ireland 38-5 in the semifinal.
South Africa stopped Spain 54-5 in the quarters England 26-13 in the semis. The 2021 Series stays in Canada for the Edmonton Sevens this weekend.
