Shujaa up to 13th after Hong Kong 7s
What you need to know:
- Shujaa made several visits to the opponents half but the Japanese defence was too strong, they held on to the 21-12 score line to the end.
- Earlier, the team had beaten Canada 19-0 to qualify for Challenge Trophy semi final and also secure their first win of the competition.
Kenya Sevens collected five points from Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday to move up one place to 13th and two places above the relegation zone in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The relegation battle is not yet over for Kenya Sevens who lost to Japan 21-12 in Challenge Trophy semi-finals. Japan, who are also fighting relegation, lost to Scotland 26-24 in Challenge Trophy final.
Former World Sevens champions Wales slumped to the relegation zone after they lost to Japan 38-7 in the Challenge Trophy quarter-finals. Wales went on to lose 19-14 to Spain in the final match for 13th place.
Kenya's haul of five points saw the team scale one place to 13th with a total 23 points while Japan, who collected seven points in Hong Kong, pulled themselves up one place above the relegation zone with 21 points.
Wales, who were lying in 13th place going into Hong Kong slumped to places and into the relegation zone with 20 points after they picked two points from Hong Kong.
The last three legs of the Series - this weekend’s Singapore Sevens and later London and Paris - will be crucial for Kenya, Japan and Wales in their battle to avoid relegation.
Only one team will be relegated from the Series this season. Ireland got promoted to the 2019/2020 World Series after they beat hosts Hong Kong 28-7 in the qualifier final.
Fiji simply affirmed why they are the sevens Kings when they downed France 21-7 to claim a historic fifth consecutive Hong Kong Sevens title.
Fiji stayed second in the Series with 123 points as Mike Friday's USA retained the top spot after claiming bronze, beating Samoa 22-10 in the play offs.
New Zealand, who lost to Argentina 21-14 in the final for fifth place, are third with 118 points and are followed by South Africa in fourth with 99 points, nine better than England.
It's worth noting that the top four teams at the end of the Series will automatically qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, with the rest going through their respective continental qualifiers. Kenya at the moment will be happy with South Africa staying fourth for the obvious reasons.
It is for this reason that the final three legs of the series will be crucial for both Kenya and South Africa. Kenya faces USA, England and Wales in Pool “C" of the Singapore Sevens.
Pool A has Fiji, South Africa, Scotland and Canada while Pool B has France, Argentina and Australia.
Samoa, New Zealand, Japan and Spain make Pool D.
