Paris Oympics: Shujaa set to face Samoa in must-win clash

The Kenya Sevens team, Shujaa, will take to the pitch this afternoon for their final group B game against Samoa after a day to forget in their opening Olympic games.

Shujaa faced Argentina and Australia on Wednesday, suffering defeats in both matches. They went down 31-12 to the HSBC champions before suffering a 21-7 loss to Australia, and they have a tough job of securing a quarterfinal place as one of the best third-placed teams.

In the first game, the defeat was largely self-inflicted, as, despite a strong start, errors saw Kenya punished, particularly in the second half. The Australia game saw a slight improvement from Kevin Wambua’s men, but it was still not good enough, leading to back-to-back losses.

Coach Wambua admitted that the boys did well by all standards but fell short due to inexperience, as it is largely a youthful side with the oldest player being 29-year-old Herman Humwa.

“We are a young team. Three-quarters of the players in this team are all Olympic debutants, and as such, they are inexperienced at this stage, but I am still proud of them. The most important thing is to keep this team together, and I believe that they will get better with time,” he said.

On Thursday afternoon, they take to the pitch against Samoa, who equally lost their opening two games to the two powerhouses. Both teams are determined to end their group assignments strongly to have a chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals. Kenya must win the game by a huge margin to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals as the best losers.

Samoa lost 14-21 to Australia in their opening game of the tournament before going down 28-12 to Argentina.

Paris Olympics: Shujaa's poor run continues after loss to Australia