Inconsistent Shujaa shift focus to crucial 2022 Rugby 7s World Cup Qualifiers

The men’s national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, will immediately be seeking to shake off their inconsistent tag that has plagued them this season and exert their weight as one of the best sides in the continent when they turn their focus to the upcoming Africa Men’s Sevens Cup that is going to take place this weekend at the Kyadondo Grounds in Kampala, Uganda on the 23 and 24 April 2022.

Over the last two weeks, Shujaa continued with their discouraging display at the 2021/2022 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Circuit as they finished in 11th and 15th position out of 16 teams in the fifth and sixth outings held in Singapore and Vancouver respectively.

Although the side carried to those two outings consisted of four debutants on the big stage and a number of inexperienced faces, anxiety is rife going into the 2022 Africa Sevens Cup that is going to double as the qualifying tournament to the upcoming 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens that will take place in South Africa later in September.

Since the season started, Shujaa has been a mixed bag of results as they have finished in position 8, 6, 15, 9, 11, 11 and 15 in the six outings they have played so far.

In Uganda this weekend, the Innocent Simiyu coached side will be among the fourteen African nations competing for the three tickets up for grabs to the prestigious showpiece event.

Kenya will be competing for the three tickets alongside hosts Uganda, Tunisia, Namibia, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mauritius, Cameroon and Madagascar.

Before the team flew out for the last two Series outings, current co-captain Herman Humwa and head coach Simiyu had noted the importance of Kenya qualifying to event.

“The World Cup is a really big deal for us as a team and a country. We have been participating in it since its inception and notably in 2008 when we performed well by reaching the semifinals. It really is a big thing for us to make it to that tournament and for that reason, it becomes our number priority as a team. That is why we need to secure a ticket in the upcoming qualifiers,” Humwa told Mozzart Sport.

"Our key focus for this month is the World Cup qualifier,” Simiyu stated.

With other opponents firmly on the rise and Shujaa showing no signs of improvement, it awaits to be seen how the team will fair this weekend.

The team gets the tournament underway with the opening match against Senegal.