Shujaa struggle at Perth Sevens, suffer back-to-back defeats
Kenya Sevens faced a tough start to the 2024-25 World Rugby Sevens Series in Perth, enduring back-to-back losses to New Zealand and Fiji. These defeats have nearly ended their hopes of advancing to the main cup quarter-finals, leaving them with a crucial but largely symbolic final pool match against Uruguay.
Kenya Sevens endured a challenging start to the Perth circuit of the 2024-25 World Rugby Sevens Series, suffering consecutive defeats to New Zealand and Fiji in Pool C matches that all but ended their hopes of reaching the main cup quarter-finals.
In their opening match against New Zealand, Shujaa were left ruing a poor first-half performance as they went down 29-14. New Zealand opened the scoring through Frank Vaenuku in the second minute, with Ngarohi McGarvey-Black converting to give the All Blacks a dream start. Shujaa responded late in the half when captain George Ooro crossed the try line, with Nygel Amaitsa’s conversion leveling the scores. However, New Zealand regained their lead just before the break as Regan Ware’s try and another McGarvey-Black conversion gave them a 14-7 advantage at halftime.
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Kenya showed improvement in the second half, leveling the score at 14-14 when Patrick Odongo’s try was converted by Amaitsa. However, New Zealand’s experience proved decisive as Andrews Knewstubb, Cody Vai, and McGarvey-Black scored unanswered tries to seal a 29-14 victory for the All Blacks.
Elsewhere in Pool C, Uruguay stunned Fiji 24-17 to top the standings after the first round of matches. Kenya found themselves at the bottom with no points, trailing New Zealand and Uruguay, who both had three points.
Later that day, Shujaa faced Fiji in a must-win encounter to keep their quarter-final hopes alive. The Kenyan side began brightly, taking a 14-7 halftime lead thanks to tries from Nygel Amaitsa and Samuel Asati, both converted by Antony Mboya. However, Fiji mounted a spirited comeback in the second half. Joji Nasova’s converted try before the break reduced the deficit, and further tries from Nasova and Joseva Talacolo, both converted by Iowane Teba, handed Fiji a 21-14 victory.
The result extended Fiji’s dominance over Kenya to 14 consecutive matches and knocked Shujaa out of contention for the main cup. With Uruguay defeating both Fiji and New Zealand to lead the pool standings with six points, Kenya’s final match against the Uruguayans on Saturday at 7 am became a formality in the race for quarter-final qualification.
Kevin Wambua’s charges will now look to salvage pride in their remaining matches as they aim to regroup and assess their performance ahead of the next leg of the series.
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