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George Ooro tackled by John Franklin of Canada during their 2026 HSBC SVNS 2 match at Nyayo Stadium on February 14, 2026. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]
Kenya Sevens came from 10-0 down at the break to edge out a stubborn Germany 15-10 at sudden death as Shujaa maintained their unbeaten run during the opening day of the 2026 Nairobi HSBC SVNS, played at the fully packed Nyayo Stadium on Saturday.
Shujaa began the match on the back foot after Ben Ellermann took advantage of the hosts’ defensive lapse to score an unconverted try to hand the Germans a 5-0 lead.
Felix Hufnagel stretched Germany’s lead to 10-0 after another unconverted try as the Europeans led at the break.
In the final half, Nygel Amaitsa began Kenya’s comeback after crossing over for a touchdown that was not converted as they trailed 10-5.
Moments later, Patrick Odongo showed why he is the fastest Kenyan rugby winger after picking a loose ball from the half line and sprinting to the try box and tying the scores at 10-10 after another missed conversion.
Shujaa power and resilience followed after the hooter when they denied Germany a last-gasp winner when Odongo chased Anton Gleitze and forced a hold-up between the posts and sent the game to sudden death.
Played in the golden point format, where the first to score wins the match, Shujaa kicked the ball, and despite the Germans winning possession, Kevin Wekesa’s power came into play when he forced a turnover through powering through one of the Germans’ racks.
Off the scrum, Amaitsa found Festus Shiasi, who shrugged off two defenders from the midfield before sprinting for a diving try between the sticks and sealed Kenya’s 15-10 win amid thunderous applause from the thousands of fans at Nyayo Stadium.
Kenya has so far defeated Canada, Belgium and now Germany.