Kenyans have reacted with disbelieve and shock after the national sevens team squandered a comfortable 26-5 lead with four minutes to go to lose to Scotland 31-26 and exit the Rugby World Cup Sevens in the round of 16 stage on Saturday.
It was simply tragic and heartbreaking when Samuel Oliech and Samuel Njenga were sin-binned in quick succession to let Scotland, who were trailing, to win at the death and sail through to the Cup quarterfinals.
But Kenya is not the only team to exit the competition so early as giants Australia were shocked by France.
France’s Tavite Veredamu — a soldier in the French Foreign Legion who was drafted into France’s sevens squad last year — scored twice in a pulsating 22-17 victory.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Veredamu told AFP. “We knew that we could cause a surprise here. Hopefully we can cause another surprise this weekend.”
France’s reward for their upset of Australia is a meeting with mighty New Zealand on Saturday in the last eight.
The Kenyans looked to be cruising into the last eight after racing into a 26-0 lead early in the second half. But Scotland reeled off unanswered tries from Harvey Elms, Scott Riddell and two from Jamie Farndale as well as a penalty try to seal a sensational 31-26 victory in stoppage time.
This is how Kenyans on Social Media reacted to the shock defeat.
While we were sleeping #Kenya7s led 26-0 against Scotland at some point in the second half but lost 31-26 ? #RWC7S Trying to comprehend ? #TheScoreKE
— Carol Radull (@CarolRadull) July 21, 2018
Beautiful game. Unfortunate loss. Always great to see @KenyaSevens confirm we are indeed #MagicalKenya #RWC7s
— President of Kenya (@PresidentKE) July 21, 2018
Well, regrettably, we must admit the fact that that was a mind boggling and an unfortunate loss. From 26-0 lead to 26-31 loss…The boys are sorry they broke the heart of so many wonderful fans.
But we soldier on to the round of 16.#Kenya7s #RWC7s— Kenya7s (@Kenya7s_) July 21, 2018
#RWC7s @kenya_7s ?? 26-31 @Scotlandteam Rugby World Cup Sevens. We go to bed as winners,shock when i miss my alarm and alas!!! We are out of the Games. Sasa ni trophy woi!!!!! Bora uhai na Kenyan Coffee is still number 1 in the world!!! ???
?#Kenya7s #TeamKenya #RWC7s— Bridgit Kiki. (@bridgitkiki) July 21, 2018
Earlier on, Collins Injera and Oyoo had scored three tries to hand Shujaa a 19-7 win over Tonga. The loss means, that Kenya will face The Republic of Ireland in the Challenge cup quarter Finals at 12:04 am on Sunday morning.
#Shujaa are not out yet!! They play Ireland in the #RWC7s Challenge Quarters Finals tonight at 12:04 AM.
Let’s come together and show our support!!#MyBidco #Kenya7s
?????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/bENLsx61dx— Bidco Africa (@BidcoGroup) July 21, 2018
Here is the fixture for Challenge Trophy ?? vs ??#Kenya7s #RWC7S @KenyaSevens pic.twitter.com/ERG0F2K93Z
— RODGERS ODARI (@OdreIZme) July 21, 2018
After their scintillating come-back win against Kenya, Scotland will now face giants South Africa in the cup Quarter finals, a match that most Kenyan fans think Shujaa wouldn’t have won.
#Kenya7s we could have faced SouthAfrica hata hivi ni sawa .. #RWC7S pic.twitter.com/4fcLTfBUlr
— RODGERS ODARI (@OdreIZme) July 21, 2018
Hosts USA will play England in the pick of the quarter finals while defending Champions New Zealand will have to navigate past giant slayers France, who have already knocked Australia out of the main cup, for a place in the last four.
The other match will see Fiji take on Argentina