Shujaa bowed out of the penultimate round of the 2018/2019 HSBC World Sevens Series, London7s having picked up one point. Day one Shujaa had one of the best performances of the season despite the losses to Fiji (24-17) and France (31-17). They however secured one win in their second match against Samoa beating them 21-20.
Day two the spirited side went down 29-21 to Scotland in the Challenge Trophy with tries from Andrew Amondes’ brace and one from Jeff Oluoch. Taabu and Olindi added the three conversions. The loss dropped Shujaa to the 13th place semifinal pitting them against Japan who are also in the relegation dog fight.
Japan capitalized on Shujaa’s errors to go over the whitewash four times with three conversions splitting the posts while one sailed wide. Bush Mwale landed two tries in the match while Oluoch dotted down once, Olindi managing to add one conversion. In spite of their attempts to go over the opponents try line, Shujaa’s ball handling errors seemed to work against them while the Japanese defense was too strong to cut through
Shujaa however missed Daniel Sikuta and Daniel Taabu’s impact after the two were ruled out due to injuries. Sikuta picked up an injury on day one which saw him sit out the rest of the tournament while Taabu missed the France and Japan matches.
After the London7s performance, Shujaa will have to give it their all and improve their performance on the 1st and 2nd of June at the Paris7s for them to retain their core status in the HSBC World Sevens Series. Most importantly, they will need to finish above Japan in that last leg of the Series.
Shujaa’s London 7s scorecard
Fiji 24 – Shujaa 17
Samoa 20 – Shujaa 21
France 31 – Shujaa 17
Scotland 29 – Shujaa 21 (CQF)
Japan 26 – Shujaa 17 (13th SF)
