Onyala optimistic of Shujaa's chances in World Rugby 7s Series after Montevideo outing
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 12.03.24. | 07:32
Shujaa won the gold medal in Dubai and a Bronze in Montevideo
The Kenya 7s national team's captain, Vincent Onyala, has expressed confidence that the side will achieve their ultimate dream of qualifying for the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series after winning two medals in their last two outings.
The Kevin Wambua-coached side started their promotion hunt with a classic gold medal in Dubai after proving more powerful than all the teams. They then stumbled in the second HSBC Challenger Series in Montevideo, Uruguay, to finish third and claim a bronze medal.
They kicked off their campaign with a 12-5 victory over Portugal before going down 17-0 to Georgia. They then bounced back to winning ways with a narrow 17-14 victory over Tonga to proceed to the quarterfinals.
At the quarterfinal stage, the determined Shujaa saw off Uganda 7-5 to sail through to the tournament's semifinals, where they met a formidable Hong Kong side.
The determined Shujaa bowed out of main cup contention after suffering a 21-14 defeat to Hong Kong in the semifinal match.
They then played the third-place playoff against Chile, where they emerged 31-12 victorious to finish third in the highly competitive tournament.
Speaking after the tournament, Onyala noted that they had their fair share of challenges, but they picked up their lessons moving forward.
"It is a pleasing outcome. It was not the result we wanted. We had a few ups and downs, but at the end of the day, we take what we have been given and move forward," he stated.
With two medals in two tournaments, Onyala was confident of Shujaa's position among the first four teams after the Challenger Series. He noted that their third-place finish in Montevideo proved to them the competitive nature of the series.
"With our numbers and mathematics, we remain top heading to the last leg. We are hopeful to be among the first four, get to Madrid, and give our best, which will see us in the HSBC Challenger Series. This shows how competitive the Challenger Series is. Last time we won gold, this time silver," he explained.
The captain also expressed gratitude to their sponsors and all those who rallied behind the team, noting that their support kept them moving.
"Much gratitude to our sponsors for walking us through this journey, our fans back at home, and those that came in partners, everyone that supports the team, we salute them," he noted.
Following the conclusion of the Montevideo Series, teams have shifted focus to the final round of action in Krakow and Munich. The top four teams in both the men's and women's standings will qualify for a standalone promotion-relegation tournament against the bottom four teams from HSBC SVNS 2024.
Four men's and four women's teams will emerge from those tournaments in Madrid to complete the lineup for HSBC SVNS 2025.
The Challenger was introduced in February 2020 to boost the development of rugby sevens across the globe and provide a clear promotion pathway to reach the top level of global rugby sevens for the short format of the game, which has experienced huge growth over the past two decades since the introduction of the global sevens series and becoming an Olympic sport at the Rio 2016 Games.
The bigger and better-than-ever 2024 edition of the Challenger kicked off with a combined men's and women's event at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on January 12–14, followed by last weekend's second round at Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo, before standalone women's and men's events at Henryk Reyman's Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland, and Dantestadion in Munich, Germany, respectively, on May 18–19.
