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Rude awakening for Kenya 7s in quest for promotion
Kenya Shujaa players wait for the restart of the match against French Renegade during the Safari Sevens at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on October 11, 2025.
Kenya Sevens on Saturday got a rude awakening in their quest to gain promotion back to the World Rugby Series, losing their quarter-final match against South Africa to fall down to the play-off for seventh place in Hong Kong Sevens.
Kenya will now play France in the play-off for seventh place from 7.51 am on Sunday at Kai Tak Sport Park in Hong Kong. The tournament is the first in the three-leg World Rugby Sevens Championship.
It was heartbreaking for Kenya Sevens, losing to South Africa Blitzboks 26 -22 in the dying minute of the quarter-final match. France lost to New Zealand’s All Blacks 19-10 in the other quarter-final match.
Shujaa had sneaked into the main Cup quarter-finals after beating the United States of America 17-10 on Saturday despite a torrid opening day on Friday in which Kenya lost to Australia 14-5, and went down to New Zealand 28-12 in Pool ‘C’.
The Blitzboks and the All Blacks will clash in the first semi-final on Sunday, followed by a meeting between Argentina and Spain in the second.
From Hong Kong, the championship that features 12 teams will move to the second and third legs in Valladolid, Spain, from May 29 to 31 and Bordeaux, France, from June 5 to 7, respectively.
The team that will top the series after the three legs will be crowned world champions. The top eight teams will play in the 2026/2027 World Rugby Sevens Division I Series, while four teams that finish between positions eight and 12 will be relegated to the 2027 World Rugby Sevens Division II tournament.
On Saturday, a tactical Blitzboks toyed with Shujaa, who had a one-man advantage and was leading 22-14 with two minutes, to topple the Kenyan team.
South Africa’s Selvyn Davids was sin-binned in the 12th minute, and Shujaa took charge in the match, with Samuel Asati picking the ball from the base to link up with Festus Shiasi for a try that Nygel Amaitsa failed to convert.
South Africa’s Quewin Nortje gained possession and scored, then Ronald Brown added the extras to reduce the deficit to 22-21.
Blitzboks had another good restart and claimed possession, forcing multiple penalties against Shujaa as substitute Siviwe Soyizwapi delivered the last straw that broke the camel’s back with a diving try.
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