Cup semi eludes Kenya as Argentina advance

Bernard Ndong, reporting from Las Vegas, USA

Kenya will face Australia in the 5th and 6th place semifinal after losing momentum against a stubborn Argentina in the cup quarter final.

After a memorable victory over Fiji in the pool games, Shujaa looked spent against Los Pumas losing 17-12.

The scoreboard saw little activity for three minutes with both sides testing each other.The Argentinians struck first after a patient build up as Conrado Roura capitalized on miscommunication in the Kenyan defence to score between the uprights.

Captain Gaston Revol added the extras for a 7 – 0 lead.

An infringement by the South Americans handed Kenya the chance to restore parity with Nelson Oyoo showing a clean pair of heels to draw level between the posts, Eden Agero making light work of the conversion.

Rattled by Kenya’s response, Argentina scored their second try when Felipe del Mestre touched down for a 12 – 7 advantage at the interval.

Shujaa had the perfect start in the second half when Eden Agero side stepped his way expertly to offload to William Ambaka to draw level.

Agero turned from hero to villain with  a poor kick off that went to the stands. Soon after, an error at the ruck by the Kenyans resulted in a penalty and Renzo Barbier capitalized to restore the South Americans advantage.

Kenya huffed and puffed seeking to salvage victory from the jaws of defeat but Argentina stood firm to advance to the Cup semifinals while Shujaa rued their missed chance to advance further in the top-tier competition slipping to the 5^th and 6^th category to be played at 11.50pm(East African time)