Kenya 7s under head coach Kevin Wambua suffered the first loss in 14 matches, going down to Germany 24-12 in the final Challenger Series pool match at the 7s stadium.
Heading to the match Shujaa had won six matches in the Africa Men’s 7s, six in Safari 7s and the opening two matches in the Challenger Series since Wambua took over.
Kenya 7s impressive Day 1
Kenya and Germany had last met in the Safari 7s with Shujaa coming from behind to beat Germany 19-5 to reach the final set for RFUEA grounds which they eventually won.
As they met in Dubai they were both enjoying the finest form having won their openers. Kenya were dealt a blow early on when Kevin Wekesa was sin-binned.
The Germans made the extra-man count immediately as they scored at the left corner through John Dawe for an early lead.
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Kenya had to wait until the final moments of the first half to level the scores. It was speedster Patrick Odongo who accelerated on the left side and went on to score under the posts. A conversion by Anthony Omondi was on point handing Kenya a lead.
At the start of the second half, Tim Lichtenberg bagged two tries before Odongo burst on the right-side wing for a try that cut the gap to 5 points. Lichtenberg completed his hattrick for a 24-12 win for Germany.
Kenya 7s will now shift focus on the Cup quarters with their match slated for 6:05 pm.
