Revitalized Shujaa edge Canada for first win in Seville 7s

The men’s national rugby 7s team Shujaa put in an improved performance on Saturday morning at the Estadio Olimpico De La Cartuja as they defeated Canada 5-24 to record their first win at the ongoing HSBC Seville 7s tournament.

Having been blown away 42-0 by Australia in their opening pool D match played on Friday, the Innocent Simiyu coached side managed to shake off their lethargic display as tries from Herman Humwa, Alvin ‘Buffa’ Otieno, Vincent Onyala and Antony Omondi got the job done for the team.

 The team certainly made a better start to the game compared to the previous clash as they camped deep in Canada’s half in the opening minutes but failure to win their tackles came at a cost for Shujaa as Anton Ngongo raced over the white line to open the scoring for the opponents who went 5-0 up following a missed conversion.

That would prove to be all Canada got in the match as Kenya laid inroads in sealing the comeback win.

First, Herman Humwa made a brilliant line break after cleverly spotting spaces in the Canadian defense as he helped the team surge ahead after Antony converted his centre post try to give Kenya a 5-7 lead.

Just before halftime, great link up play between Daniel Taabu and Nelson Oyoo almost extended the team’s lead but the certain try that was imminent was disallowed after Taabu’s pass went forward for an infringement, Kenya getting the narrow two point lead at half time.

In the second half, Buffa unleashed the beast in him as he beat three Canadian markers both with his pace and power on the flanks to land a try at the corner that was not converted.

That set the tone for Kenya as Onyala followed up next with another try before a brilliant offload and support play performance allowed Anthony to grab the fourth try of the game that sealed the 5-24 win.

Shujaa now take on Scotland at 1613 EAT and will progress to the main cup quarterfinals should they win.