Rugby
D-day for Shujaa as Rugby Sevens starts at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Shujaa pose for a group photo in Paris (C) NOC-K
By Michael Kirwa |
Shujaa open their Paris Olympics campaign today with matches against Argentina and Australia
Shujaa, Kenya's Rugby Sevens national team, will be the first Team Kenya representatives to feature in their respective disciplines as Rugby Sevens matches kick off on Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The other sports Kenya is represented in - athletics, fencing, judo, swimming, and volleyball - do not start until after the opening ceremony on Friday.
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Shujaa, appearing at the Olympic Games for the third time after featuring in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, are in Group B with Argentina, Australia, and Samoa.
The Group B match between Australia and Samoa will kick off the Rugby Sevens tournament at the Olympic Games. The match will start at 4:30 pm EAT. Shujaa and Argentina will then take to the pitch 30 minutes later at 5 pm EAT. All matches will be played at the Stade de France, which will be Paris 2024's Olympic stadium.
After playing Argentina, Shujaa will rest for about two and a half hours before taking on Australia at 8 pm.
Kenya's last group game against Samoa will be on Thursday at 3 pm.
Kenya 7s are quite familiar with their Group B opponents who featured in the elite World Rugby Sevens Series last season as Shujaa played in the Challenger Series following their relegation to second-tier competition in 2023.
Argentina, who emerged as one of the best Rugby Sevens teams in the world last season, finished second in the Grand Finals of 2023-24 World Rugby Sevens Series and will be the team to beat in Group B. Australia were 7th in the Grand Finals, while Samoa, who did not qualify for the Grand Finals, finished in 11th place in the league.
Shujaa, coached by Kevun Wambua, has played Argentina 36 times since 2012. There have been 12 wins for Shujaa, the last of which came in 2019 when Kenya defeated Argentina 24-19 in the Las Vegas circuit of the 2018/19 World Rugby Sevens series. Since then, Argentina has won seven straight matches against Kenya, bringing their total wins against Shujaa to 23. There has been one draw between the two teams.
Similarly, Kenya 7s have also played Australia 36 times since 2011. Shujaa will be hoping that their match-up tonight ends as their last one in 2023 which Kenya 7s won 12-7 in the Las Vegas circuit of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens series.
That win in their last meeting was Kenya's 6th against Australia in that period. Australia won 29 of the remaining 30 games as one match ended in a draw.
It is against Samoa 7s that Kenya has high hopes of registering a victory against. Like with Australia, Shujaa won its last match against Samoa, beating them 19-12 in the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series relegation play-offs.
That last win counts as one of the 13 victories Shujaa has registered against the Pacific Ocean islanders in their last 35 matches since 2011. Samoa 7s have won 22 games against Kenya 7s in that period but their recent form should motivate Shujaa to go for the jugular. Samoa 7s have won only one of their last 10 games and are on a four-match losing streak going into the Olympics.
Shujaa have never won a match at the Olympic Games
It is a record that they are eager to change this time round and hopefully go all the way to winning a bronze medal, an achievement which will be historic in that it will be Kenya's first ever medal in a team sport at the Olympic Games.
So far, Kenya has won 113 medals at the Olympics with 106 coming from athletics and the remaining seven coming from boxing.
However, that challenge -- of winning a game and delivering a medal -- is a daunting task that awaits the youngest and least experienced team to represent Kenya in the Rugby Sevens at the Olympic Games.
The Shujaa squad selected to represent Kenya at the 2024 Olympic Games has an average age of 25 years and has little experience of featuring in the World Rugby Seven Series, the sport’s elite international competition.
The Shujaa squad that represented Kenya at the 2016 Olympic Games had an average of 26 while the one that did duty five years later in Tokyo had an average age of 30.
The fact that the current Shujaa squad has no player older than 29 is an indication that the veterans of Kenya rugby sevens’ high-flying days have been phased out and now team is in a stage of rebuild with the blooding of new young players.
Speaking during the Shujaa Media Day on Wednesday, July 3, five days before Shujaa departed for France, Kenya Sevens coach Kevin Wambua acknowledged the challenging task that awaits the squad but expressed confidence in their ability to surmount the odds.
“We have a group of young players who have been very co-operative. We have blown hot and cold during the Challenger Series but you can only be good as your last game and our last game was good,” Wambua said.
Between the last Olympic Games and now, Kenya only appeared at the World Rugby Sevens Series in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before the team suffered relegation to the Challenger Series.
At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Kenya 7s will be captained by Mwamba's Tony Omondi, 29, and KCB's Vincent Onyala, 27.
Onyala, along with 28-year old Herman Humwa, go to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as the only Kenya Sevens players who featured at the last Olympic Games. It is a distinction that makes them join an elite list of four other players who have represented Kenya in the rugby sevens in at least two Olympic Games.
The others are Andrew Amonde (team captain in 2016 and co-captain in 2020), Billy Odhiambo, Collins Injera (co-captain in 2020) and Willy Ambaka.
Andrew Amonde is also in Paris with the team as a member of the technical bench. Amonde is the team's strength and conditioning coach. Other members of Shujaa’s technical bench include physio Lamech Bogonko and team manager Steve Sewe.
Other players in the Shujaa squad are John Okoth (Menengai Oilers – 24 years old), Kevin Wekesa (Kabras Sugar – 24 years old), George Ooro (Strathmore Leos – 24 years old), Samuel Asati (KCB Rugby – 25 years old), Nygel Amaitsa (Strathmore Leos – 22 years old), Brian Tanga (Kabras Sugar – 28 years old), Patrick Odongo (Daystar Falcons – 22 years old), Lamech Ambetsa (Kabras Sugar – 23 years old), and Chrisant Ojwang (Nakuru RFC – 24 years old).
Dennis Abukuse (Menengai Oilers) and Festus Shiasi (KCB Rugby) will travel as reserves while Brian Mutugi (Mwamba RFC) will be a training reserve.
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