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Kenya Sevens coach Kevin Wambua has revealed what he is aiming to achieve after sealing a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics
Kenya Sevens coach Kevin Wambua feels qualifying for the 2024 Olympics has given his side confidence that they can bounce back to the World Rugby Sevens Series at the first time of asking following their relegation last season.
Shujaa edged South Africa 17-12 in a nail-biting cup final at the Africa Sevens in Harare, Zimbabwe on Sunday to claim the coveted Olympics ticket for a third straight time.
It was a big achievement considering Wambua is just less than two months in the job while he selected a young squad which lacked the know-how to play at the top level.
The tactician therefore feels it is the start of better things to come from Shujaa, who had lost their fear factor in recent years, leading to a sustained period of poor results.
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18:10 - 17.09.2023
RUGBY: Gallant Shujaa stun South Africa to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics
Patrick Odongo scored a brace as Kenya Sevens pulled off a memorable win to seal their qualification to next year's Olympics at the expense of the much-fancied South Africa
“We had a dream, we worked to achieve and we have achieved it. This is big, coming from being relegated last season. Grinding like this with six rookies shows what we can do as a country,” said Wambua.
“Our aim moving forward is to take the team back to the HSBC circuit and prove to people that we can still play at the top.
“There was a lot of work, we did few camps but the key is also selling the dream to the players, telling them that we can do it. Working on a game plan and a structure, building a culture was very important and that is what got us to the final.”
Patrick Odongo was the hero of the day with his brace of tries doing the trick for Shujaa. He scored the opening try for Kenya which was converted for a 7-0 lead before South Africa responded with two quick tries, one converted, for a 12-7 lead at the break.
Odongo then scored his second of the game to tie the scores 12-12 after the break before John Okoth extended Shujaa’s lead to 17-12 and they held on to claim a memorable win.
Kenya had an unblemished group stage campaign when they started with a 34-10 win over Nigeria before thrashing Namibia 50-0 in their second match and ended with a 38-12 defeat of Zambia.
That earned them a favourable quarter-final draw against Burkina Faso, who they beat 26-10, before serving the same dose to Zimbabwe, winning 35-10 this time.
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17:00 - 19.09.2023
RUGBY Six lessons learned from Shujaa's victory at Africa Sevens
Kenya Sevens outdid themselves to qualify for the 2024 Olympics by winning the Africa Sevens against the much fancied South Africa.
Wambua’s main objective was to ensure Kenya qualified for the Olympics and with that ticked off his bucket list, returning Shujaa to the HSBC Sevens Series is his next big assignment.
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