HSBC World Championship: Erratic Shujaa extend winless run in Spain after bowing to South Africa
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Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 29.05.26. | 18:56
The Kenyan boys had hoped to bounce back from their narrow loss to Australia, only to shoot themselves in the foot
Shujaa remain in search of their first victory in the second leg of the HSBC World Championship after suffering a 14-0 defeat to South Africa in their second Pool A match played on Friday, 29 May in Valladolid, Spain.
The loss came just hours after Kenya had narrowly fallen 15-10 to Australia in their opening fixture, leaving Kevin Wambua’s charges rooted at the bottom of the pool standings with a solitary bonus point.
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Shujaa entered the clash hoping to exact revenge on the Blitzboks, who edged them 26-22 in the Hong Kong Sevens quarterfinals last month.
However, a string of handling errors and missed opportunities proved costly as South Africa capitalized on Kenya’s mistakes to secure victory.
South Africa retained possession from kickoff before both sides engaged in an early tactical kicking battle.
Kenya then enjoyed a spell of possession but were punished when South Africa’s Shilton van Wyk intercepted a pass and sprinted clear to score the opening try.
The conversion was successful, handing the Blitzboks a 7-0 lead.
Kenya struggled to build momentum thereafter, with handling errors disrupting promising attacks.
Festus Shiasi knocked the ball forward while attempting to launch an attack, handing possession back to South Africa.
Vincent Onyala was also guilty of a costly mishandle as Kenya repeatedly failed to maintain pressure.
The East Africans continued to battle for territory but another handling mistake brought the first half to an end with South Africa holding a 7-0 advantage.
Shujaa started the second half positively, working their way from deep inside their own territory towards the South African 22.
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However, their progress was halted when Samuel Asati was penalized for going off his feet at the breakdown.
Kenya’s task became even more difficult when Dennis Abukuse was shown a yellow card, temporarily reducing Shujaa to six men.
The Blitzboks immediately took advantage of the numerical superiority, moving the ball through the hands before Sebastian Job finished off a well-worked move for South Africa’s second try.
The conversion was successful, stretching the lead to 14-0 with less than a minute remaining.
Despite a late push from Kenya, South Africa held firm to register their second win of the tournament and move to the top of the pool standings with six points.
For Shujaa, the defeat leaves them bottom of the table.
The Kenyans will have one final opportunity to secure a victory in the pool stages when they face Great Britain on Saturday, 30 May at 2:01 pm East African Time.