Kenya Men's national rugby 7's team, Shujaa finished second after losing to South Africa 38-5 in the Vancouver Sevens Final at the BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Monday morning. Daniel Taabu scored Kenya's sole try with Angelo Davids, Sakoyisa Makata, Christie Grobellar, Ronald Brown, and Darren Adonis going over for South Africa.
This was Shujaa's first Cup final in the World Rugby Sevens series in three seasons and it featured debutants; Levi Amunga, Derrick Keyoga, Alvin Marube, Mark Kwemoi and Timothy Mmasi. The debutants also scored their first tries for Shujaa in the circuit.
In the final, the Kenyans simply could not keep the momentum as they were totally outplayed by the South Africans. They were 24-0 at half time with the South Africans putting down four tries, two of which were converted. Angelo Davids struck a brace with Sokoyisa Makata and Ronald Brown adding one each for the South Africans. In the second half, two converted tries from Christie Grobelaar and Darren Adonis confirmed the victory for the South Africans.
The last time Kenya had reached the final was during the 2017/2018 World Sevens Series at the Vancouver Sevens and Hong Kong Sevens where they lost to Fiji 31-12 and 24-12 in both occasions. It was also the first all-African Cup final since 2008 Adelaide, and the only one in the series' history. Shujaa had beaten Spain 17-5 and Mexico 45-7 to storm to the Main Cup Quarters where they held their own to beat Mike Friday's USA 19-14 before thrashing Ireland 38-5 in the semis. Focus will now shift to the Edmonton Sevens next weekend.