Former national Rugby 7’s Captain Humphrey Kayange believes there is still more to come from Shujaa despite their dismal performance at the Paris Olympic Games.
Kenya finished ninth at the Olympics, following a narrow 10-5 victory over Samoa in the ninth-place playoff on Saturday.
John Okoth scored two unconverted tries, while Motu Opetai managed a consolation try for Samoa.
Placed in Group B alongside Australia, Argentina and Samoa, Shujaa finished last with just three points.
Australia topped the group with nine points, followed by Argentina ( seven) and Samoa (five).
Shujaa began their pool games with a 31-12 loss to Olympic bronze medalists Argentina, followed by a 21-7 defeat to Australia. They closed the group stage with a 26-0 loss to Samoa.
In the 9-12 placing matches, Shujaa recorded their first win of the tournament with a hard-fought 19-14 victory against Uruguay, setting up a rematch with Samoa in the 9-10 place rounds.
The host nation, France clinched the title after defeating Fiji 28-7 while South Africa took bronze with a 26-19 win over Australia.
This mirrored the 2020 Tokyo Games, where Kenya also finished ninth.
Despite the results in Paris, Kayange praised the team's performance.
“That was a great finish to the tournament. Well done, boys, for a valiant display,” Kayange said.
Looking ahead, Kayange believes there is still much more to come from Shujaa, especially in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
“There has been a lot of improvement by the young players and there is plenty more to come from this group,” he added.
After their relegation from the HSBC World Sevens Series last year, Shujaa made a triumphant return for the 2025 season after beating Germany 33-15 last month in Madrid.
Their qualification journey saw them beat Samoa 19-12 in their opening match followed by a narrow 10-5 loss to Spain, and a convincing 36-7 victory over Chile before attaining core status with the victory over Germany.
Kayange was the standout star for the National Sevens team during the 2010/11 season when they finished ninth in the World Sevens Series, scoring 31 tries and amassing 157 points.
He also had the most tries for the team in the 2009/10 season with 33, placing him second overall, tied with New Zealand’s Kurt Baker and behind Samoa’s Mikaele Pesamino, who had 56 tries.
Kenya Sevens earned their first call-up for the World Rugby Sevens Series in the 1999/2000 season, where they finished in position 20.
Their best season came in 2021 when they finished third behind South Africa and Great Britain.
