Kenya 7s secured a third-place finish at the SVNS 2 tournament in Montevideo after beating hosts Uruguay national rugby sevens team 22-14 in their final match at the Estadio Charrúa.
The result saw Kenya national rugby sevens team once again settle for third place, having achieved the same position in the Nairobi leg. United States national rugby sevens team were crowned champions after a dominant 29-5 victory over Germany national rugby sevens team, finishing top with 15 points. Germany placed second with 12 points, while Kenya concluded their campaign with 11 points.
The hosts struck first after George Ooro Angeyo was sent to the sin bin, with Francisco Landauer crossing over before adding the conversion for a 7-0 lead. Kenya were briefly reduced to numbers again when Samuel Asati was also yellow-carded, but Shujaa showed resilience to fight back.
Patrick Odongo Okong’o turned the tide with a quick double, scoring in the seventh and ninth minutes. Nygel Amaitsa added a conversion to give Kenya a 12-7 lead.
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In the second half, Uruguay’s Dante Soto was yellow-carded, and Kenya capitalized immediately. Okong’o completed his hat-trick to extend the lead to 17-7 before John Okoth Okeyo added the fourth try to push the score to 22-7, though David Nyangige missed the conversion.
Soto returned from the sin bin to score Uruguay’s second try, narrowing the score to 22-14 as the hosts chased a losing bonus point, but Kenya held firm to seal the victory.
Shujaa will now shift focus to the next leg in São Paulo, where they will be aiming to break into the top two and strengthen their push for qualification to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
