Shujaa cruise through to Cup quarters, to face Australia

Kenya Sevens put their best forward to qualify for the Cup quarters in the Hamilton Sevens in New Zealand on Saturday morning after winning two of their group encounters against Samoa and Canada, before drawing with the USA.

Kenya managed a 19-19 draw against the USA, which is coached by former Shujaa tactician Mike Friday in their last game of Pool D.

Kenya edged out Samoa19-14, before beating a nagging Canada with the same margin with the burly Willy Ambaka enjoying his outing.

However, the last game for Kenya against their former coach proofed to be a hard nut to crack after the fastest player in sevens rugby, Carlin Isles, sidestepped through the Kenya defence to sprint 50 metres leaving the Shujaa back-line left helpless.

Despite the setback, Menengai Cream Homeboyz wonder kid Jeff Oluoch restored parity in favour of Kenya with Nelson Oyoo also showcasing his pace with a magnificent try.

Shujaa captain Oscar “Big Wheels” Ouma was jovial after his team-mates sailed through to the next round.

In an interview with World rugby, the Top Fry Nakuru centre was optimistic Kenya will qualify for the semi-finals.

“It was a tough group for us, a bit tensed but I’m  glad we qualified for the quarters. Now we just have to be composed and take each game at a  time and hopefully we march on to the next round,” Ouma said.

Kenya now sails through on top of Pool D and will be looking to add on the already bagged 13 points that sees them occupy position seven.

This season, Shujaa have not been impressive, with only a quarterfinal qualification in all the three circuits played at the HSBC World Series.

Shujaa will now face Australia in the Cup quarters following the Saturday afternoon draws.