Shujaa finishes seventh at the 2019 CapeTown7s tournament after falling 5-17 to South Africa in the cup quarterfinal.
They went unbeaten at the close of the Pool stages by beating Samoa 24-19, Australia 12-7 and an eventual 24 draw with Ireland, a performance that saw Shujaa finish second in Pool D while Ireland topped.
“We were unlucky in Dubai but we have definitely made improvements in our kickoffs. Everyone in the team has had a start in the matches, those that came off the bench during the Samoa match all started against Australia, so giving people opportunity has played a role in our performance. Our work rate has greatly improved as well,” said Paul Feeney.
Alvin Otieno scored Shujaa’s solitary try in the second minute of the quarterfinal encounter handing Shujaa an early 5-0 lead.
Buffa is becoming a hero right in front of our eyes at the #CapeTown7s#FollowBuffa @Buffah2 pic.twitter.com/KuLzZQWRf5
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) December 15, 2019
Hosts and Dubai7s champions South Africa responded with a corner flag try as Ruhan Nel grounded the ball successfully despite Jeffrey Oluoch’s defensive tackle. Scores remained 5-5 at the breather but South Africa landed an extra 12 points in the second half through Ruhan Nel and Selvyn Davids’ tries with Justin Geduld adding one conversion.
Shujaa collects eleven points from the Cape Town7s bringing their total tally to 15. The next HSBC World Sevens Series leg is the Hamilton7s on the 25th and 26th of January followed by the Sydney7s the following weekend.