Kenya Sevens suffered a 33-14 loss to Samoa in the Los Angeles Pool D opening match played on Saturday at Dignity Park.

Shujaa gave up three tries in the first half and two more in the second half. Kenya are last in Pool D with a point and will need to win their final two games to get to the quarterfinals.

Three tries

Errors gave the Samoans three tries, with Vaa Apelu Maliko scoring twice and Uaina Sione scoring the third. Melani Matavao added two conversions for a 19-0 halftime lead.

Kenya came back stronger from the break and Daniel Taabu ignited a brief fightback for Shujaa, scoring from a promptly taken penalty before setting up Willy Ambaka for a second try that pulled the team to within five points of Samoa after two Sammy Oliech conversions.

The Samoans won thanks to tries from Paul Scanlan and Taunuu Niulevaea, as well as Matavao’s conversion.

Shujaa will play England at 11:10 p.m. EAT. The season will come to an end on Sunday with four sides in the race for the title.

Unique system

Due to the effects of the global epidemic, the 2022 Series features a unique Series scoring system in which each team’s end-of-season total is derived by taking their best seven results from the nine Series events.

That means South Africa, who won the first four tournaments of the 2022 Series, currently lead the way on 124 points and would claim the Series title should they reach the final in LA, meanwhile Australia are two points behind and Argentina a further four adrift.

Fiji are fourth on 104 points but the system in place in 2022 ensures that they retain a shot at claiming a fifth men’s Series crown despite missing the tournaments in Malaga and Seville at the start of the year.