Kenya 7s lost to Spain 10-5 in their second match of the HSBC Sevens promotion playoffs played in Madrid on Friday night.
Spain entered the playoffs after missing out on the top eight in the World Sevens Series, while Kenya 7s had finished second in the Challenger Series.
Kenya 7s record
Heading into this match, Shujaa had a favorable record with five wins and one draw in their last 10 meetings against Spain, who had four wins in the same span. Both teams had won their openers and were keen to finish top of the log.
Kenya 7s captains Tony Omondi and Vincent Onyala in Challenger Series. PHOTO/Rugby Afrique
The match saw strong support from fans, with Spain playing in front of their home crowd while Shujaa also had a number of traveling supporters cheering them from the Kenya corner.
Spain capitalized on the left side and struck first through their all-time top scorer, Pol Pla, who scored the opening try of the game. The lead doubled when Tobias Sainz-Trapaga fended off Patrick Odongo to score the second try in the left corner.
Despite Pla being yellow-carded, Spain maintained their momentum. As the game progressed, Kenya’s Captain Vincent Onyala spotted a gap off a ruck on the outside and quickly raced to score a try, cutting the gap to five points.
With one minute left to play, Kenya 7s won a penalty but failed to capitalize on the opportunity, sealing their 10-5 loss to Spain.
Shujaa will play Chile in the final pool match on Saturday night.
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To determine promotion, the teams in each pool will battle against each other on a round-robin basis, determining the rankings in each pool ahead of the cross-pool matches.
During the cross-pool matches, which will be qualifiers for the 2025 HSBC SVNS, the winners will secure a ticket as a core side.
In the cross-pool matches, qualifier one will see the top-ranked team in Pool A facing the fourth-ranked team in Pool B after the group stage.
Kenya 7s forward Kevin Wekesa in Challenger Series. PHOTO/Rugby Afrique
In the second qualifier match, the third-ranked team in Pool A will take on the second-ranked team in Pool B.
The second-ranked team in Pool A will then take on the third-ranked team in Pool B in the third qualifier.
The fourth qualifier will pit the fourth-ranked team in Pool A against the top-ranked team in Pool B.
