Africa 7s 2022: Lethargic Shujaa beaten by Uganda who book ticket to World Cup Sevens

The men’s national rugby 7s side, Shujaa, made hard work of their qualification chance to the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens as they were unsurprisingly beaten by a flying Uganda Cranes who booked their ticket to the prestigious tourney courtesy of qualifying to the main cup finals.

In that main cup semifinal encounter played on Sunday afternoon at the Kyadondo Grounds, the hosts continued with their fine display since the start of the tournament as they outwitted a clueless Shujaa 22-12 at fulltime consequently getting the bragging rights and the precious World Cup ticket at the expense of their fierce East African rivals.

Straight from kickoff, Uganda, who had won all four of their matches prior to the clash, looked very bright as they looked to exert themselves against a lethargic Shujaa side that had just squeezed out of the pool stage due to a superior points difference to Madagascar who stunned them in their last pool game.

Africa 7s 2022: Lucky Shujaa seal main cup semis despite being stunned by Madagascar

The stepping Philip Wokorach unleashed one of his devilish sidesteps to put Uganda 5-0 up following a missed conversion as he had evaded his markers after taking a quick tap when Kenya was reduced to six men for a high tackle by Alvin ‘Buffa’ Otieno.

Adrian Kasito’s successfully converted try by Wokorach saw Uganda extend their lead to 12-0 at the halftime break as Kenya struggled to get any footing in the game.

The same scoring duo would land their braces in the second half as the hosts extended their lead to 22-0 following unsuccessful conversions for both attempts.

Quick thinking from youngster Amon Wamalwa managed to get Kenya on the board as he quickly took a penalty before touching down beneath the posts and converting his own try. Anthony Omondi got a second late on but it proved too little too late as the game ended 22-12.

With the result, Kenya must now win their 3/4th playoff match against Zambia if they are to make it to the World Cup Sevens Tournament.