Shujaa Punch Rugby Sevens World Cup Ticket After Third Place Playoff Win

25th April 2022

Shujaa relinquished their Africa 7s title to hosts Uganda won the tournament after thrashing Zimbabwe 28-0 in the final

Kenya's Billy Odhiambo scores a try during the Africa Men's Sevens World Cup Qualifying Tournament match between Kenya and Zimbabwe at the Kayadondo Rugby Grounds in Kampala on April 23, 2022. PHOTO | AFP
Kenya's Billy Odhiambo scores a try during the Africa Men's Sevens World Cup Qualifying Tournament match between Kenya and Zimbabwe at the Kayadondo Rugby Grounds in Kampala on April 23, 2022. PHOTO | AFP
SUMMARY
  • Shujaa did just enough to qualify for the Rugby Sevens World Cup after beating African rivals Zambia 19-12 in the third place play-off in Kampala on Sunday
  • The Kenyans dropped off the title race after losing to Uganda in the semi-finals, but they wrote off a few wrongs with the Zambia victory to earn their sixth qualification to the World Cup

Shujaa did just enough to qualify for the Rugby Sevens World Cup after beating African rivals Zambia 19-12 in the third place play-off in Kampala on Sunday.

Shujaa relinquished their Africa 7s title to hosts Uganda won the tournament after thrashing Zimbabwe 28-0 in the final.

The Kenyans dropped off the title race after losing to Uganda in the semi-finals, but they wrote off a few wrongs with the Zambia victory to earn their sixth qualification to the World Cup.

The Rugby Sevens World Cup will take place in South Africa in September.

Debutant Amon Wamalwa landed a brace of tries for Shujaa against Zambia while Augustine Lugonzo crossed over once and Tony Omondi slicing the posts for conversions in two of the three tries.

Innocent Simiyu’s charges had hoped to defend their title, but they saw the dreams crashed after losing 22-12 to Uganda in the semi-finals. They had earlier on suffered a shock 12-7 loss to Madagascar in their last pool match.

Shujaa had a perfect start to the tournament, beating Namibia 33-7 and Zimbabwe 24-19 in their first two pool matches. They had earned a place in the pool stage after a 19-0 victory over Senegal in the seeding match.

Simiyu and his technical bench will now have a lot to think about ahead of the World Cup, especially with the performance in the World Rugby Sevens series also not being to standard.

-Additional material from KRU