A 14-26 Pool D defeat to Ireland all but ended Shujaa’s hopes of reaching the cup quarters at the eighth round of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series in Hong Kong on Saturday morning.
Harry McNulty’s converted try from the kick off gave Ireland a 7-0 lead but Shujaa responded with Alvin Otieno’s long range try and Tony Omondi’s conversion to level the scores at 7-7.
It remained a fair, pound for pound contest but the Irish inevitably retook the lead at the stroke of half time, Andrew Smith going over the chalk with Mark Roche adding his second conversion of the game for a 14-7 lead at the interval.
Shujaa started the second half with the forward momentum.
Kevin Wekesa would gather a seemingly stray pass from Billy Odhiambo, playing in Johnstone Olindi whose offload on the tackle created a try scoring opportunity for Odhiambo with Omondi converting to once again draw Shujaa level.
This situation was shortlived as Roche received the ball on the burst, scoring and converting to put Ireland 21-14 up.
There was still plenty to play for, and an opportunity for Shujaa to at least secure a draw.
Captain Nelson Oyoo would make a try saving tackle on Ireland’s Jordan Conroy but from the ensuing play, Shujaa were first penalized for not hooking in the scrumdown and eventually caught ball watching as Roche went over for his brace, condemning Shujaa to their second successive loss, having started the campaign with a 5-29 defeat to New Zealand on Friday morning.
Coming up next for Shujaa is their final group fixture against African rivals South Africa at 10.25am
Shujaa are currently placed 13th overall on the series log with 29 points and will now focus on a strong finish in the subsidiary knockout competitions on Sunday to boost their chances of retaining their core status by finishing among the top 11 at the close of the 10th round of the series in Toulouse, France in May.
