By: Timothy Olobulu
After a dismal performance at the Paris Sevens, Kenya has been drawn in a tricky Pool A for the last leg of the 2016/17 HSBC Sevens World Series season in London next weekend.
Shujaa will square it out with overall series winners and Paris Sevens champions South Africa who beat Scotland 15-5 to clinch the title, Canada and Wales as they seek to finish the season on a high.
Kenya collected only one point in Paris after finishing 15th to drop 12th in the standings on 58 points
After finishing third in the group stages, Shujaa dropped to the Challenge Trophy where they hoped to win their third this season, but lost 12-7 to Argentina in the semifinals.
They were relegated to the 13th place play offs, but could not improve on their performance, as they surprisingly lost 15-7 to Russia in the semifinals, thus ending their journey.
Meanwhile, South Africa picked up the coveted overall title even before they went on to win the Paris Main Cup after finishing as runners up four seasons in a row.
The Blitzbokkes were confirmed champions after England failed to progress to the final after losing 19-17 to Scotland, giving the South Africans a clear path to run in as they were assured of at least 19 points which would have pulled them clear.
Holders Fiji had earlier been knocked out of the Main Cup in the quarters. Going to Paris, South Africa had 157 points with Fiji second on 132 and England third on 130.
Neil Powell’s men have been in emphatic form this season, winning the titles in Dubai, Wellington and Las Vegas. They also reached cup finals in Cape Town, Vancouver and Hong Kong.
