The Kenya men’s national sevens team, Shujaa, are through to the cup quarterfinals at the final round of the 2021 Sevens World Series in Edmonton. Joining them from Pool B are the USA, coached by former Kenya Head Coach Mike Friday.
They had made it through to the last eight at the earliest possible opportunity with wins against Spain and Chile before meeting to decide the pool winner.
USA took command and went into half-time 12-0 up before Kenya came out firing to score two converted tries and lead 14-12. Martin Iosefo had been quiet up to that point but just when his team needed a big moment from a big player, the two-time Olympian came up with the matchwinner in the corner with around 30 seconds to go. It was sweet revenge for Mike Friday’s team who’d been beaten by the same 19-14 scoreline in last week’s Vancouver Cup quarter-final.
In earlier fixtures, Kenya had no trouble seeing off Chile, 38-5, with veteran Willy Ambaka rolling back the years with a brace before beating Spain 26-12, to set up the showdown against the Men’s Sevens Eagles. Kenya will now play Germany in the cup quarterfinal at 7.04pm East Africa Time on Sunday 26 September 2021.