Singapore 7s: Kenya Shujaa Fall To Fiji In Main Cup Final

• Kenya's men's national rugby sevens team, better known as Shujaa, lost to Fiji in the Main Cup final of the Singapore 7s
• Fiji, who are four-time winners of the World Series, had to dig deep after falling behind 7-0 at halftime
• Despite the loss in the final, it was a gallant performance from Shujaa, who reached their first final since 2021 in Canada

Kenya's men's national rugby sevens team lost to Fiji 21-12 in the Singapore Sevens Main Cup final on Sunday afternoon.

Shujaa came so close to winning only their second-ever gold at the HSBC Sevens Series but were undone by a superior performance from Fiji in the second half.

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Fiji vs Kenya Main Cup final Singapore 7s

Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua's side entered the final as the only team that hadn't conceded in the first half this weekend in Singapore, a record they maintained despite the loss.

Wambua made some surprising changes to his line-up with lead try scorer Patrick Odongo and Jonas Kubu starting on the bench. Kubu was facing the country of his birth for the first time. Odongo has been battling some niggling injury concerns.

Shujaa began well, sniffing out Fiji's threat. Fiji's captain, Sevuloni Mocenacagi, was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous leading elbow. Shujaa failed to maximise their man advantage as a couple of rookie knock-on mistakes prevented them from eating into Fiji's half, or even making a significant try.

However, with just a few seconds to half time, Kenya forced a mistake, turning over the possession. Vincent Onyala launched a long in-field kick, which Nygell Amaitsa hunted down to touch down the first try of the game.

He converted the try to give Kenya a precious half-time lead.

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Vuiviawa Naduvalo stars vs Kenya in Singapore

The lead only lasted a few minutes as Vuiviawa Naduvalo broke through the left rank after the restart before equalising proceedings in the cup final.

Kenya's mistakes haunted them once again as they handed possession back to the Fijians. The two-time Olympic champions broke through the restarting scrum with Naduvalo landing his second try of the game with three and a half minutes to go.

The next try came Fiji's way with Rauto Vakadranu breaking beautifully through the ranks to score Fiji's third try of the game.

Kenya had brief hope once again after William Andakalu pulled off a brilliant hand-off before landing Shujaa's second try of the game. It was, however, a little bit too late as Fiji held on to make it 15 consecutive wins against Kenya.

Kenya's route to the final

Kenya began their journey on Saturday by beating Ireland 17-7 and France 10-7 to top Group B and qualify for the Main Cup semis.

Wambua’s charges then put on a masterful performance in the semis to beat Spain 12-5 to set up a rematch against Fiji in the Singapore final.

Fiji, on the other hand, embarked on a ruthless run that saw them whitewash USA 38-0 and New Zealand 36-5 in the group stages before seeing off Argentina 33-24 in the semis.

It was the first time Shujaa reached the final since Canada 7s in 2021.

What next for Kenya Shujaa?

Singapore 7s was the sixth leg of the 2025 season, where Shujaa have had a disappointing outcome despite reaching the final this weekend.

They are certain to finish among the bottom four places, which will force them to participate in the playoffs in Los Angeles to safeguard their place as a core team for next season.

Kenyan rugby fans chant 'Ruto Must Go'

TUKO.co.ke had earlier reported that Kenyan rugby fans chanted anti-Ruto slogans during the Perth Sevens in Australia in January.

Kenya didn't make it out of the group stage that time after losing to New Zealand and Fiji.

There was a huge turnout from the Kenyan population that lives in Australia, who flocked HBF Park venue.