Dubai 7s: Spirited Shujaa end tournament in 11th place after running Fiji close

The men's national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, came close to recording a huge upset in the Dubai 7s on Saturday afternoon as they narrowly lost 17-21 against Oceanic giants Fiji in the tournament's 9th place semifinal encounter.

Having gone into the break leading 17-7 by the half time interval, the Damian McGrath coached side looked destined to pull the rabbit out of the hole but missed conversions ended up costing the team a chance of making it to the 9th place final as only one of the three tries was converted by Anthony Omondi while Fiji converted all three of their tries to nick the game and evade the upset on the cards.

Following the defeat, Shujaa were left to finish their tournament in joint eleventh place after losing the 9th place semifinal.

Prior to the match, Shujaa had just secured their first win of the 2023 campaign after beating Canada 17-7 and were looking to build on the result when they confronted Fiji.

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

The game did not take long to burst into life as Jeremiah Matana's try was successfully converted by Filipe Sautataga to give the Fijians an early 0-7 lead.

Surprised by the flying start by the Fijians, Kenya provided the perfect response as they landed three quick tries from Kevin Wekesa, Dennis Abukuse and Nelson Oyoo to head into the half time break with a 17-7 lead after only one of the three conversion attempts found its mark.

In the second half, Fiji managed to turn around the Kenyan tide as they found two converted tries from captain Waisea Nasuqu and Pilipo Bukayaro restored their lead as they took a 17-21 victory.

Having been hit by the suckerpunch, Shujaa failed to conjure any response in time as Fiji held into the narrow lead to knock out Kenya out of the 9th place final playoff set for later today.

Ulinzi Sports Complex double-header highlights Saturday's FKFPL action

In the main cup, Ireland face USA as New Zealand take on defending champions with the winners from both encounters advancing to the cup final that will be played at 1826EAT.

Shujaa Dubai 7s Results

Group A Results

Kenya 19-19 Australia

Kenya 12-27 South Africa

Kenya 14-14 Great Britain

Kenya 17-7 Canada -9th Place Quarterfinal

Kenya 17-21 Fiji - 9th place Semifinal