Amaitsa stars as Shujaa thump Nigeria in Africa Men's 7s opener

Kenya 7s national team; Shujaa were off to an impressive start in their opening Africa Men’s 7s match that was played in Harare, Zimbabwe after thrashing Nigeria 34-10.

The Africa Men’s 7s tournament will serve as the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers.

The opening half was characterized by turnovers from both teams.

Kevin Wambua’s charges had a sluggish start as the side was slow in kickoffs. Nigeria were still in its rebuilding phase, but strong in defence and attack.

Shujaa settled fast to score the opening try through captain Vincent Onyala. Tony Omondi added the extras to see the scores at 7-0.

Nigeria then responded back with a try through captain Olukolade Awobowale. Their conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Nygel Amaitsa’s converted try saw Shujaa regain their lead heading to the halftime whistle.

Shujaa came in guns blazing in the closing half to add 20 more points that downed their opponents.

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It was Onyala who went over the white wash with his second try of the match, and the third for Kenya. All the conversion attempts in the second half were unsuccessful.

Minutes later, Strathmore Leos’ speedster Amaitsa danced through the opponents’ defence to see Kenya add five more points.

Amaitsa would seal his hat-trick after receiving the ball from Samuel Asati.

Festus Shiasi then caught Nigeria’s defence napping, as he cut through to add five more points on the scoreboard. Nigeria managed their second try through Awobowale.

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Kenya will take on Namibia at 1350 hrs before facing Zambia in their final pool match.

They will be looking to pick maximum wins to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The team which has six debutants has had an intensive two-month training stint as they hope to seal the automatic slot to the Paris Olympics next year, especially after getting relegated from the World Sevens Series in London in May.

Shujaa fixtures

1350 | vs Namibia

1634 | vs Zambia