Kenya's rivalry with France continues in Valladolid as Bordeaux trip awaits

Kenya's rugby sevens rivalry with France continued in Valladolid, Spain, on Sunday, with Shujaa falling 14-5 to the French side in the 7th/8th place playoff at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla.

The result came just weeks after the two teams met twice during the Hong Kong HSBC SVNS tournament in May, where Kenya lost 14-7 in the preliminary stages before bouncing back to beat France 21-7 in the seventh-place playoff.

The Kenya men's national sevens team began their Valladolid campaign on May 29 in Pool A with a narrow 15-10 extra-time defeat to Australia. The Kelvin Wambua-coached side had tied the match at 10-10 in regulation time but lost concentration in extra time, allowing Australia to score the decisive try.

Later that day, Shujaa suffered another setback, falling 14-0 to African rivals South Africa to end a disappointing opening day.

Kenya recovered on Saturday with a hard-fought 12-7 victory over Great Britain, thanks to tries from Festus Shiasi and Patrick Odongo, securing a place in the quarter-finals.

However, Australia once again proved too strong, defeating Kenya 21-0 in the quarter-finals and relegating Shujaa to the 7th/8th place playoff against France.

The Valladolid meeting marked the third encounter between Kenya and France in this year's HSBC SVNS World Championship Series. Despite the growing rivalry, all three matches have come in classification rounds rather than the main title contest.

National team head coach Kelvin Wambua has maintained that his primary objective remains guiding Kenya back to Division One next season.

Shujaa will now shift their focus to the next tournament in Bordeaux, France, scheduled for June 5-7 at the Stade Atlantique (Matmut Atlantique).