Shujaa’s poor form continues in Hong Kong

The Kenya Sevens rugby team Shujaa keep breaking records. Only that this time, the wrong records!

Sunday dawn was another day to feel sorry or maybe mad, after Kenya suffered back to back losses in the Hong Kong Sevens classification matches.

After Kenya were condemned to three consecutive Pool D losses - like they did in the last leg in Vancouver; losing to Fiji, Great Britain and Uruguay- the battle on Sunday was going to be first against Samoa in the ninth place semifinal.

Final result? Another loss. This time falling 26-12 to once again suffer relegation into the thirteenth place semifinal.

Against invitational side Hong Kong, history was made as the latter secured their first win over Kenya since the 2000-2001 season and … their first win in the HSBC Sevens series since 2013!

Seb Brien scored the game’s first try three minutes into the game before Alvin Otieno leveled the scores at 5-5 going into halftime.

Seb Brien and Rusell Webb then converted their tries after the break to extend their with substitute Jeff Olouch grabbing a late consolation try to see Kenya lose 10-19 at the Hong Kong Stadium..

Five losses and no win in the Hong Kong Series sounds worse when you think about Spain - 12th in the series standings and directly above Kenya- who booked a place into the main cup quarter finals on Saturday and made it up to the fifth place semifinals.

Still tucked in at 13th on 29 points, Kenya will need a herculean task in the remaining four legs to avoid relegation from the circuit - with the Singapore leg coming up in a week's time.

How relegation will be decided.

The 15th ranked core team based on accumulated Series points following the tenth round in Toulouse will be relegated.

Teams ranked 12th, 13th, and 14th following the World Series in Toulouse will compete in a four-team relegation playoff with the 2023 Challenger Series winners in Toulouse.

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The relegation playoff will be a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the final. The winner will be the 12th core team on the 2024 World Rugby Challenger Series, while the other three teams will compete in their respective Regional Sevens Championships to qualify for the 2024 World Rugby Challenger Series.