On Saturday 27th July 2024, Kenya Sevens recorded their best performance in the Olympics after beating Samoa 10-5 in the 9th place playoff at the Stade de France.
Shujaa landed the opening try in the third minute of the match after John Okoth went over the whitewash to land a corner post try. Anthony Omondi’s conversion drifted wide. Shujaa’s defensive skills were commendable as the didn’t let the Samoans go through at any point and held on to the 5-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Okoth landed his brace in the 8th minute of the match as he sliced through the defenders to dot down the second try but the conversion once again was unsuccessful. Three minutes later, despite Asati’s defensive efforts, Samoa’s Motu Opetai grounded the ball to narrow the gap to 10-5. Their conversion attempt was also unsucessful. Shujaa held on to this score and secured the much needed victory to seal off the 9th place victory.
This goes down as the teams highest performance in the Olympics. When sevens rugby was included into the tournament starting with the 2016 Rio Olympics, Shujaa finished eleventh. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, they finished 10th but in Paris 2024, they have gone a step higher improving on their Olympics trajectory.
Shujaa’s scorecard at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
Pool B matches:
- Argentina 31 – Kenya 12
- Australia 21 – Kenya 7
- Samoa 26 – Kenya 0
9th Place semifinal
- Uruguay 14 – Kenya 19
9th place Final
- Samoa 5 – Kenya 10
