NAIROBI, Kenya, February 15, 2026 – National men’s rugby 7s head coach Kevin ‘Bling’ Wambua admits the team panicked in the final game of the HSBC Division 2 tournament against the United States at the Nyayo Stadium on Sunday evening.
Wambua says Shujaa were not as composed as they should have been whenever they did not have the ball.
“I think when we don’t have possession, we tend to be eager to get the ball back and to flood the breakdown. That’s one area the USA exploited us. They scored two tries off the ruck. We committed numbers where we didn’t need to,” Wambua said.
The gaffer further attributed the nervy moments to his players adjusting to the system as far as the defensive system is concerned.
“We’ve just identified that sending a lot of guys on the breakdown and just being a bit more composed when you don’t have possession. We tend to be in a panic when you don’t have the ball,” he said.
Wambua added: “Also, we need to learn that defensively we can dictate the tempo of the game by just having a solid system and everybody doing their roles right in defence.”
Shujaa finished third in the first leg of the prestigious competition after a 21-5 loss to the North Americans on Sunday evening.
Lucas Lacamp and Aaron Cummings scored a try each in the first half — the former converting successfully on both occasions — as the winners raced to a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Adam Channel added a third in the last minute of the game before George ‘Japolo’ Ooro saved Shujaa’s blushes with Kenya’s first try in added time after a slaloming run from the middle of the pitch to go over at the corner post.
Wambua admitted Shujaa could have done better with their accuracy.
Nonetheless, with two more legs to come in Montevideo and Sao Paulo, the coach is not going to lose sleep over the loss.
“We would have loved to win this and give the fans something at home but we know it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We have two more tournaments and I believe the boys will pick up the pace,” he said.
Germany finished top of the standings with 13 points, one ahead of the United States and Kenya, who came second and third respectively.
