Kenya 7s Shujaa suffered a narrow 15-10 extra-time defeat to Australia in their opening Pool A match of the second leg of the three-legged HSBC World Championship Series played on Friday, May 29, 2026 at the Estadio José Zorrilla in Valladolid, Spain.
Australia took an early 5-0 lead through Henry Hutchison in the second minute before Patrick Odongo responded two minutes later to level the scores at 5-5 for Shujaa after both conversion attempts were missed.
Dietrich Roache restored Australia’s advantage in the seventh minute to hand the Aussies a 10-5 halftime lead in the closely fought encounter.
Shujaa fought back in the second half with co-captain Samuel Asati touching down in the 11th minute to tie the match at 10-10, but another missed conversion forced the game into extra time.
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Roache eventually sealed victory for Australia in overtime after racing past the Kenyan defence to score the winning try, condemning Shujaa to a heartbreaking 15-10 defeat despite a spirited performance.
The loss, however, earned Kenya a crucial losing bonus point ahead of their second Pool A fixture against South Africa later in the day at 6:08pm East Africa Time.
