Kenya goes down fighting against Australia  in HSBC Sevens World Championship opener in Valladolid

The national men’s rugby sevens team,Shujaa went down fighting losing 10-15  to Australia in their opening Group A match of the HSBC Sevens World Championship in Valladolid,Spain.

Henry Hutchison touched down to hand Australia the lead but returning Patrick Odongo pulled level for Shujaa with Nygel Amaitsa missing  the conversion.

Dietrich Roache regained Australia lead after scoring an unconverted try as Australia led 10-5 at half time.

On resumption Kenya levelled the matters shortly after the break through Nygel Amaitsa’s uncoverted try but Australia scored two more tries through Dietrich  Roache second try of the game that seale the win for Australia.

Kenya now faces a daunting task in their second match against South Africa scheduled today 6.08PM East Africa time.

The Kenyan team finished eighth in Hong Kong  and will push hard to avoid finishing in the bottom four where teams will be relegated to the developmental HSBC Sevens two series .

The three tournament HSBC World Champioship will conclude in Bordeaux, France on 5-7th June.

Kenya is currently placed 7th on the 12 team standings with 8 points. South Africa,Argentina and Spain occupy the top three slots while Uruguay,Great Brittain,Germany and USA are placed 9th-12th respectively.