Despite falling short of a top-eight finish at the Perth Sevens in Australia, Shujaa head coach Kevin Wambua found plenty of positives in his side’s spirited performances, insisting the team is steadily building towards their ultimate goal.
Shujaa closed their Perth campaign with a 19-12 loss to New Zealand in the ninth-place play-off, finishing 10th overall.
This marked the third leg of the 12-team HSBC Sevens Series, which had earlier toured Dubai and Cape Town.
The remaining rounds will take the teams to Vancouver, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
In Dubai, Shujaa secured 10th place, earning three points.
They followed that with a ninth-place finish in Cape Town, where they picked up eight points.
The Perth outing added another three points, taking their season tally to 14 and placing them ninth in the 12-team standings.
Wambua admitted he was disappointed after missing out on a top-eight finish but remained optimistic about his squad’s progress.
“Gutted not to have made it into the top eight. We faced losses to New Zealand and a close one against Fiji in the pool stage, but we came back stronger with wins against Uruguay and the USA,” Wambua said.
Drawn in Pool C alongside heavyweights New Zealand, Fiji, Uruguay and the USA, Shujaa started their campaign with a 29-14 defeat to New Zealand, followed by a hard-fought 21-14 loss to Fiji on Friday.
They bounced back on Saturday with a commanding 19-5 win over Uruguay before edging the USA 26- 21 in a tense ninth-place semifinal to set up a rematch with New Zealand on Sunday in the ninth place playoffs.
Wambua hailed his players’ resilience, particularly the young squad’s ability to go head-to-head with the top-ranked teams.
“We are scoring tries against the top eight teams with a young squad, with three-quarters of them playing in the series for the first time.”
“Going toe-to-toe with such quality sides shows we’re on the right path. Our systems are working, and we’ll continue trusting our process,” he said.
While praising the team’s efforts, Wambua highlighted areas that require improvement, particularly set pieces and defensive cohesion.
“Our set piece, especially the line out, let us down, but we’ll work hard
to improve that critical aspect. Defensively, we need to be more connected,
ensure inside and outside cover, and
make better decisions around the
breakdown, especially when fatigued,”
Wambua explained.
