Safari 7s: Dominant Shujaa silence noisy neighbours Uganda

The men’s national rugby 7s side Shujaa once again silenced perennial rivals Uganda as they recorded a 17-5 victory over the noisy neighbours to secure the East African bragging rights when the two sides squared off in the 2023 Safari 7s.

With both sides having won their opening clashes in the tournament making its return in the country following a one-year absence, the battle for top spot was immediately on the cards as the two rivals squared off.

Play here and stand a chance of winning the over 334 Million SportPesa Mega Jackpot

An efficient Kenya were the first to land the first blow in the contest and it came from Nygel Amaitsa who easily touched down at the corner after Kenya took full advantage with Uganda reduced to six men.

While the conversion attempt was unsuccessful, Kenya prised open the Uganda defense straight from the restart as they retained possession before another carbon copy move saw the diminutive Samuel Asati locate his KCB teammate Vincent Onyala on the far left.

Despite having the little matter of a Ugandan marker up ahead, Onyala trusted his speed and got the job done as he touched at the corner to extend Kenya’s lead to 10-0 following another missed conversion.

A rare loose pass from the Kenyans who were deep in their territory gave the Ugandans a lifeline when they landed an unconverted try just before the break to halve the deficit at half time.

Shujaa would however open a twelve point lead after a mix of silky handling and brute force left the Ugandans on the floor as John Okoth touched down the team’s third try.

There was no missing this time round for Tony Omondi as he nailed the conversion to bring the score to a full-time result of 17-5.

ALSO READ: SportPesa Mega Jackpot hits life-changing 334 Million!

“We played well, just had one error which led to the try that we conceded but we showed good composure in coming back and scoring the other try.

We have been polishing on our structures in attack and defence and reinforcing our skillset and so far so good because the team is playing some excellent rugby,” Shujaa head coach Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua said.

The result was Shujaa’s second win after thrashing South Africa All-stars 36-0 in the opening match as Uganda succumbed to their first defeat in the tournament following their 38-0 win over Tropic 7s in their opener.

ALSO READ: Gor Mahia handed 2 million fine following fan trouble in Kasarani