Kenya Shujaa retained their Safari Sevens title for a historic fifth consecutive time after defeating Kenya Morans 24-5 in an all-Kenyan final played yesterday evening.

The victory at the 28th edition of the tournament extended Shujaa’s record to 15 Safari Sevens titles, reaffirming their dominance in the annual competition.

Shujaa sealed the victory with a commanding second-half performance, scoring four tries to overcome Morans, who managed a late consolation try through Lucky Onyango.

Rayvon Ambale opened the scoring immediately after halftime with a breakthrough run and successfully converted his own try. Victor Mola displayed incredible footwork and pace down the right flank to score the second try and finished. He finished the tournament as the overall top try scorer with eight touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Festus Shiasi dived into the left corner following a quick pass from Nigel Amaitsa to stretch the lead further, and John Okoth powered his way over the line to secure Shujaa’s final try of the match.

Morans had hoped to reclaim the trophy for the first time since 2019, when Kenya defeated South Africa 19-14, but were unable to overcome the defending champions.

Throughout the tournament, Shujaa competed in a competitive pool featuring regional rivals and international invitationals, bouncing back from a slower start to top their group.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s dominance extended to the women’s competition, where the Kenya Lionesses successfully defended their title after beating Uganda 20-5 in the final.

The double triumph underlined Kenya’s strength in rugby sevens as Shujaa turned their attention to the World Rugby SVNS 2 campaign.

Other men’s results were in the third-place play-off, where the French Renegades edged Shogun 17-15, while Zimbabwe defeated SportPesa Fast Forwards 19-17 in the fifth-place final.

South California Nomads beat Gel Squad 17-15 to claim ninth place.

In the cup semi-finals, Shujaa thrashed the French Renegades 36-0, while Morans defeated Shogun 31-10 to set up the all-Kenyan final.

Shujaa had earlier overwhelmed Wonder 7s 54-5 in the quarter-finals, while Morans beat SportPesa Fast Forwards 38-15.

Shogun defeated Wellington Jaguars 41-5, while French Renegades edged Zimbabwe 17-12 to complete the semi-final line-up.

The Safari Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Nairobi, Kenya. The Safari Sevens is open to international representative sides, professional and amateur clubs, invitational teams, and university and school teams.

Initially held at the RFUEA Ground, home of the Kenya Rugby Union, the tournament was moved to the Nyayo National Stadium, whose capacity is bigger. This year had a record high of over 16,000 spectators who attended the 3-day tournament.

By Wangari Ndirangu