Singapore 7s: Erratic Shujaa chip away in loss to France

The men’s national rugby 7s side Shujaa were once again let down by their own errors in their Singapore 7s Pool C opener as they succumbed to a 26-19 loss to France on Saturday morning.

Despite putting in a spirited shift right from the word go, the Damian McGrath currently coached side, as has been the case this season, shot themselves on the foot as they ended up allowing to make a comeback each time which culminated in the stinging loss.

Knowing very well the size of the task that lay ahead of them in their bid to avoid relegation, Shujaa got the perfect start in the match when Herman Humwa took a quick tap in before diving over for the opening try after a France infringement inside the 5m line. Tony Omondi duly converted to give the team a 0-7 lead.

The first mistake came immediately after when the team lost a lineout inside their own 22m line, handing France easy possession who made it count as Leraitre Paul touched down an unconverted try to reduce the deficit to 5-7.

Almost immediately, missed tackles from Shujaa saw France end up with a mismatch down the right hand side as the huge Jordan Sepho easily held his own before touching down an easy try that was converted by Jean Pascal who helped France take a 12-7 lead.

Shujaa managed to retake the lead shortly before the break through a moment of brilliance from Kevin Wekesa who showed his strength, power and pace in beating three chasing France defenders with Omondi converting for a 12-14 lead.

They managed to extend the lead to 12-19 through an unconverted try by Omondi but two converted tries from Joseph Jefferson and William Iraguha saw the team fall to the 26-19 defeat.

With Uruguay beating USA 21-24 in the other group game, Shujaa now have to win their remaining two matches to have any chance of making the main cup quarterfinals.

They face USA next at 0924EAT before facing Uruguay at 1307EAT.