Shujaa’s second Pool B match pitting them against Japan ended in a 12 all stalemate on Saturday morning.
The Big Alvin “Buffa” Otieno was first on the scoreboard as he fended off his defender in pure Buffa fashion before going over for Kenya’s first try. The conversion drifted wide for an early 5-0 lead. At the stroke of half time, Japan’s Kippei Ishida crossed the whitewash leveling the scores to 5-5- at the stroke of half time.
The second half saw Daniel Taabu exploit the gap in the Japanese defense, making his way to score a center post try followed by his own conversion that gave Shujaa the 7-point lead. Japan put up an unyielding spirit with a minute left on the clock landing a well-executed team try through Dai Ozawa. Yoshikazu Fujita’s conversion leveled the scores to 12-12.
Shujaa’s execution while attacking was cut short as flyhalf Johnstone Olindi lost possession of the ball a few inches from the try line. Japan now in control of the ball opted for a line out that resulted in the ball finding touch at full time.
Earlier, they lost 19-24 to England in the opening Pool B match. Shujaa now readies for South Africa on Sunday morning at 2:13am EAT.
