Shujaa in danger of missing 2024 Olympics
Jordan Sepho of France (left) fights for the ball against Tony Omondi of Kenya (right) during their match of the HSBC Rugby Sevens event in Singapore on April 8, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Kenya will take on New Zealand, who sealed their fourth win of the season with victory in Singapore, in Pool "A" in Toulouse. The pool also has Uruguay and Canada.
Kenya Sevens is in danger of missing out on both 2023/2024 World Rugby Sevens Series and 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Relegation play-offs seem inevitable for Shujaa after they lost to Spain 26-10 in the ninth place final to finish 10th at Singapore Sevens on Sunday.
That saw Shujaa stay 13th in the 2022/2023 World Rugby Sevens Series despite collecting seven points for their total tally of 37 points in Singapore.
Shujaa had beaten Canada 28-14 in the quarter-final and Japan 40-7 in the semi-final.
Uruguay and Spain, who are Shujaa’s main rivals in the relegation battle, performed well in Singapore to enhance their chances of snatching the only remaining automatic place for next season's Series.
Uruguay swapped 11th place with Spain after they reached the main Cup quarter-final before losing to Samoa 22-7 to collect 10 points for their tally of 49 points.
Spain collected eight points from their victory against Shujaa for their tally of 48 points. Canada are placed 14th with 24 points with Japan, who are placed 15th with 16 points.
With only one point separating them, Uruguay and Spain have a lot to play for in the 10th and penultimate leg of Toulouse Sevens on May 12-14.
Kenya virtually has no chance with 12 points between them and Uruguay.
The top 11 teams after Toulouse Sevens will stay for the new season, while the 15th ranked core team will be relegated.
The teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th at the end of Toulouse will enter a four-team relegation play-off together with the Challenger Series 2023 winners at the 11th and final leg of the Series in London on May 20-21.
Kenya will take on New Zealand, who sealed their fourth win of the season with victory in Singapore, in Pool "A" in Toulouse. The pool also has Uruguay and Canada.
The All Blacks secured their first Singapore Sevens victory since 2005 when they beat Argentina 19-17 in the cracking final.
Spain have Argentina, Great Britain and Germany in Pool “B”, while Fiji, South Africa and the United States of America are in Pool “C”. Samoa will battle Australia, Japan, and Ireland in Pool “D”.
If South Africa fails to finish in top four after the Toulouse and London legs, they will feature in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Africa qualifier, which could complicate things for Kenya.
The top four ranked men’s and women’s teams at the 2022/2023 World Rugby Sevens Series will earn Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.
South Africa collected five points from Singapore after losing 12-5 to Spain in the ninth place to drop to seventh place with 106 points. It was the second time this season that South Africa failed to make the main Cup quarter-final.
The victory by the All Blacks saw them qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Fiji recovered from going 19-7 behind to beat Samoa 24-19 and claim the bronze medal at the Singapore Sevens.
Australia secured a 24-21 fifth-place play-off victory against Great Britain to ensure they occupy the fourth and final Olympic qualification place with two tournaments to play.
New Zealand top with 164 points and are followed by Argentina with 140 , two-time Olympic champions Fiji with 130 and France 122.
