Africa 7s tournament exposes shambolic Shujaa as alarm bells grow louder

For a long time this season, it had been coming.

The men’s national rugby 7s side, Shujaa, had been, for far too long, toying with fire on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Circuit with their below par performances on the global stage. A lot of the times, they kept flirting with danger due to their inconsistency but they kept going unforgiven.

This past weekend, at the Rugby Africa Men’s 7s Cup – a crucial tournament that was being used as a qualifier to the prestigious 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens - those lackluster and lethargic displays from the Innocent Simiyu currently coached side culminated into a horror show betraying a team that rubs shoulders against the likes of two time Olympic Gold medalists Fiji, heavyweights New Zealand and South African Blitzbok maestros among other teams in the World Series.

Right from game one, the questions started trickling in.

“What are they doing?” Everyone wondered.

In that game, they won 19-0 against Senegal but everyone was surprised.

“Probably just a slow start for them having just come from the Singapore and Vancouver legs of the Series,” flied an assumption.

Another labored display saw the team just manage to turn around a moment of almost despair into a sigh of relief as they staged an impressive comeback against Zimbabwe to record their first pool win of the tournament in their four member group. Trailing 7-19 in the second half, three tries helped the team close out a nervy 24-19 victory.

Africa 7's 2022: Taabu the hero as Shujaa stun Zimbabwe in glorious comeback

It was only against Namibia that the team appeared to have a hint of a playing style and a visible structure as they collected a 33-7 win that ended up proving invaluable.

This is because on the second day, after another disastrous and clueless performance, they were stunned 7-12 by Madagascar in the final group game, forcing points differential to be used in determining who advances to the main cup semis.

Luckily, they scrapped through in second behind Zimbabwe courtesy of their superior points difference (+26) to Madagascar (+6).

They then ended landing Uganda in the main cup semifinal, a derby game that always lives up to the billing in the rugby spheres. On that fateful Sunday, even a blistering Uganda were perhaps surprised how easy it was for them as they won 22-12, a once dreaded Shujaa lacking any influence in the game as Uganda delighted their home fans.

Following the loss, only the do or die 3/4th place playoff was left to salvage Shujaa’s fate. Lose and you miss out the World Cup. With the game tied at 12-12, youngster Amon Wamalwa just managed to touch down the try winning score as Kenya won 19-12, lucky to book theor sixth consecutive final.

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On one hand, the mission was achieved.

On the other, the manner of achieving the mission left a lot of questions to be answered. The team, clearly, was no longer the best in the region aside from South Africa. It sparked a lot of uproar and concern.

Is it the players? The coach? Or the rugby governing body? Or is it just our standards cannot improve when nothing is being done about it?

Behind all those questions, the Africa 7s Cup exposed a lot of questions that affect not only the 7s team but the other rugby teams as well – The Simbas, Kenya Chipu and the Lionesses.

Round 1

Kenya 19-0 Senegal

Pool A Games

Kenya 24-19 Zimbabwe

Kenya 33-7 Namibia

Kenya 7-12 Madagascar

Main Cup Semifinal

Kenya 12-22 Uganda

3/4th place playoff

Kenya 19-12 Zambia