- Kenya 7s were in Pool A alongside France, Australia and South Africa.
- Shujaa beat South Africa but lost against Australia and France.
The men’s national rugby 7s side, Shujaa, came close to sealing a main cup quarter-final spot upon their return to the World Rugby Sevens Series (now known as SVNS Series) but fell just short after going down to a 31-14 defeat against Australia in their final Pool A game on Saturday.
The Kevin Bling’ Wambua coached side had marked their return to the top stage with a narrow 24-19 loss against reigning Olympic champions France who had to get the victory after extra time.
Shujaa then stunned African rivals South Africa 22-17 in their second pool match leaving them needing some favourable result to book a ticket to the last 8 but that was not to be.
As a result, they dropped to the positional playoff matches where they will come up against Ireland in the 9-12 place semifinal.
Play here and stand a chance of winning the over 392 Million SportPesa Mega Jackpot
Elsewhere, previous double Olympic champions Fiji and SVNS 2024 League Winners Argentina were the pacesetters, winning all three matches to top their pools and lay down a marker for the new season.
Fiji will face reigning Olympic and SVNS Champions France in the quarterfinals while Argentina’s reward is a quarter-final tie with Australia. Great Britain will take on an impressive Spain who stunned New Zealand..
South Africa have won five consecutive Dubai titles and seven of the last eight tournaments here and they remain in with a chance of securing a sixth straight title after a thrilling golden-point victory over Olympic champions France in the last match of an epic first day.
The Blitzboks will face old foes New Zealand to complete a mouth-watering quarter-finals line-up.
It was a positive day for Spanish rugby as both men’s and women’s teams made it to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2019.
The women ended a 22-game losing streak against France while the men beat New Zealand for only the third time in Series history to reach the Dubai quarter-finals for the first time.
Kenya 7s Sunday fixtures
Kenya vs Ireland – 1306EAT
ALSO READ: Legendary Runner Eliud Kipchoge Lands Exciting Job in Newly Launched Marathon Series