Resplendent Shujaa complete fairytale ride with promotion back to World Rugby Sevens Series
2nd June 2024
The Kenya 7s beat Germany in the crunch promotion/relegation playoff to secure their ticket.
- Shujaa were relegated from the World Rugby Sevens Series in May 2023.
- They managed to get immediate promotion at their first time of asking.
- Vincent Onyala. Chrisant Ojwang. John Okoth. George Ooro and Kevin Wekesa scored the important tries over Germany.
Vincent Onyala. Chrisant Ojwang. John Okoth. George Ooro.
Kevin Wekesa.
Those are the names of the five players who scored a try apiece as Kenya gained immediate promotion back to the World Rugby Sevens Series (now known as SVNS Series) following their 33-15 victory over Germany in their crunch promotion/relegation playoff match held on Sunday afternoon in the Grand Final tournament staged in Madrid, Spain.
Joining the pentagon were Anthony Omondi, Brian Tanga, Patrick Odongo, Samuel Asati, Herman Humwa, Nygel Amaitsa, Lamech Ambetsa, Chrisant Ojwang and Brian Mutua who will all go down into the history books as the 13-man squad that lifted Kenya back to the topflight after being relegated back in May 2023 in London.
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In the technical bench sat Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua (Head coach), Louis ‘Fadhee’ Kisia (Assistant Coach), Steve Sewe (Team Manager), Andrew Amonde (Strength & Conditioning coach), Lamech Bogonko (Team Physician) and Chris Brown (World Rugby S&C consultant) who steered the ship back to the top tier in under one year since being appointed in August 2023.
In the crunch match where the winner would be assured of promotion, Kenya started under pressure as Umeh gave German the lead within the opening minute after a blistering start.
Onyala however provided the instant response for Kenya as he hit back immediately with Omondi converting to take Kenya 7-5 up.
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The Germans benefited from having a numerical advantage and Koch touched down their second unconverted try to take the favour back to them at 7-10 but Ojwang, who had been shown the yellow card, got back to the field and atoned for his mistake when he evaded two markers before touching as Kenya led 12-10 following an unconverted try.
A quick start to the second half saw Okoth bag the team’s third try that Omondi converted to ensure that Germany would need to score at least twice to overcome the 19-10 scoreline.
They managed to score, but it was just once, when Heid crossed over the whitewash to reduce the deficit to 19-15.
Ooro and Wekesa’s converted attempts then safely ensured Kenya emphatically gained promotion back to the Series after a fairytale one year following their relegation.
The promotion proved to be the cherry on top of the cake after the team also secured a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics after stunning heavyweights in the Rugby Africa 7s Cup and winning the Safari 7s title.