Oliech backs Shujaa to get even better after World Cup tournament

Samuel Oliech has backed the men’s national rugby sevens side Shujaa to continue with their upward trajectory under head coach Damian McGrath after their participation at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Cape Town, South Africa this past weekend.

In what was their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance, Shujaa finished the tournament in 12th place after going down to a 26-19 defeat against Mike Friday’ USA in the Challenge Trophy eleventh place playoff encounter staged on Sunday.

Shujaa finish twelfth in Rugby World Cup tourney

The team had started the tournament with a 19-0 pre-round of 16 win over Tonga before losing 22-7 to Argentina in the round of 16.

The result meant they missed out of main cup contention. A 24-5 Challenge quarterfinal win over Scotland was followed by a 36-0 loss to England in the Challenge semifinal before ending the tournament with the USA loss.

Making his assessment, Oliech, who plies his trade for Impala Saracens and was making his second World Cup appearance after his 2018 debut, expressed confidence that the team would get even better heading to the new season.

"We have seen a number of things that we need to work on and some things that we have worked on that are coming off now. I think the team coming together has really helped. Over the whole weekend, the team has got a lot stronger, we have gelled a lot better, gone through and had moments on and off the pitch and I think we can only get better from there,” the player noted.

Shujaa © Arigi Obiero

On the USA game, the player admitted that their inefficiency on the pitch allowed their opponents to get the edge and pip them to eleventh position.

"We shot ourselves in the foot, with our kick off and lineouts. With a good side like the USA, if you give them a sniff, they take it,” he said.

McGrath dreams of replicating Shujaa’s historic Singapore feat