Shujaa suffered their third successive defeat in Hong Kong, going down 17-26 to South Africa in Pool D action at the eighth round of the 2022/23 World Rugby Sevens Series at the Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday morning.
The South Africans denied Shujaa any meaningful possession, scoring three quickfire tries through Shaun Williams, skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi and Christie Grobbelaar with Ricardo Duartee slotting home two conversions for a 19-0 lead at the interval.
Shujaa returned for the second half with a sense of purpose, seeing more possession and gaining meaningful territory.
Their efforts paid off when Tony Omondi’s visionary pass released skipper Nelson Oyoo to score and bring the score to 19-5.
Damian McGrath’s charges were pinning the South Africans in their 22 and definitely with a shout of clawing back but this was undone as they lost possession from an attacking position, Donovan Don picking up the scraps to score under the posts with Williams converting for a 26-5 score, the game out of Shujaa’s reach at this point.
Jeff Oluoch would gather a loose ball from the restart, sprinting 50 meters to score Shujaa’s second try before Billy Odhiambo scored at the death, Johnstone Olindi converting to confirm the full time result.
The side had began their campaign with a 5-29 loss to New Zealand before losing 14-26 to Ireland.
Shujaa will now play in the 9th place quarterfinal at 4.16am East African Time on Sunday morning.
Shujaa’s Collated Results
Friday 31 March
5-29 v New Zealand
Saturday 1 April
14-26 v Ireland
17-26 v South Africa
Shujaa squad to Hong Kong and Singapore: Daniel Taabu, George Ooro, Billy Odhiambo, Kevin Wekesa, Tony Omondi, Herman Humwa, Nelson Oyoo (Captain), Johnstone Olindi, Edmund Anya, Brian Tanga, John Okoth, Alvin Otieno, Jeff Oluoch Management: Damian McGrath (Head Coach), Geoffrey Kimani (Strength & Conditioning Coach), Erick Ogweno (Team Manager), Lameck Francis Bogonko (Team Physio)
