Dubai 7s: Shujaa thump Canada to record first win of new season

After eight previous failed attempts, the men's national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, finally got their first win in the new 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series as they defeated Canada 17-7 on Saturday morning in their 9th place quarter final match in the second outing of the campaign currently ongoing in Dubai.

Having failed to manage any win in the five games they played in the season opener held in Hong Kong, followed by an improved but still winless day 1 at the Dubai 7s, the Damian McGrath coached side finally ended their search for victory courtesy of a commanding second half performance that put them through to the 9th place semifinals.

Trailing 5-7 at the halfway interval, two second half tries from Kevin Wekesa and Billy Odhiambo ensured Kenya successfully hit back as they completed the comeback to proceed to the playoff places semifinals.

In the encounter played at the Sevens Stadium, Shujaa had landed the first punch in the match when Herman Humwa touched down after four minutes of play to give the team a 5-0 lead following an unconverted try.

It is the Canadians who however managed to take a narrow 5-7 lead at the breather after Josiah Morra's strike was successfully converted by Brock Webster to give them the edge.

A disciplined second half performance however saw Kenya race to their first win of the season as they scored twelve unanswered points to seal the win courtesy of Wekesa and Odhiambo's strikes with Anthony Omondi converting once.

Following the victory, Shujaa will now face Fiji who were forced to contend with the playoff places after being surprisingly knocked out of main cup contention on Friday.

The Oceanic giants knocked Uganda 29-14 in the first quarterfinal to set up the tie.