Witness 254; Shujaas and havoc in Singapore

There are those events that take place and you will always remember exactly where you were when they took place. I remember where I was when I first watched the attack on the US Embassy in Nairobi.

I remember where I was when Mother Teresa died, when Diana died, when MJ died, when Kobe died and even when Obama first won the presidency. I remember where I was when Kipchoge ran under 2 hours. 

I remember where I was when the Shujaas wreaked havoc in Singapore! For anyone that follows Kenyan rugby, this was indeed a special moment. 

Since the onset, Kenya has always been one of the core teams in the Sevens circuit. However, I only got to know about it somewhere around 2013.

Before that though, I had had the opportunity to meet Lavin Asego, the legendary rugby player. We met at Alliance Francaise in Nairobi and every so often, he would be away from class because he was on tour with the boys.

So somehow, I got introduced to the game and then I fell in love with it because Kenya was playing. Then over time, as I got to understand the intricacies of it, I fell in love with the game.

With the Shujaaas, it was always hot and cold. We had had our moments but never quite. Then, depending on where the teams were playing, we also had to contend with the time difference.

There are days we would stay up late just to watch the boys lose. Then there are days where we would be up at 2.00 am to watch them winning by a whisker. You never knew how it would go.

The circuit is such that teams play in different cities. These were all iconic destinations;  LA, Dubai, Cape Town,  Hong Kong and Perth, I think. Then there was Singapore!

We had had our moments. We had seen Ambaka breaking defences. We had seen Amonde ploughing through men. We had even seen Injera becoming the highest try scorer of all time. But we had never won the cup, until Singapore.

When we finally did on that Sunday, the boys had not come to play. We had beaten Los Pumas in the semis. Then we pounded the flying Fijians in the finals. When we won, that moment felt really good. 

I remember cheering the boys that day, somewhere on Kiambu Road. With me was Jam, Angie and a couple of friends. I pounded the table so hard that the glass on my wristwatch broke. 

So in February 2026, when SVNS came to Nairobi, it felt good. Being able to host 'Kenya Corner' at home felt really good. We were there, cheering on at the stadium, when Shujaas did us proud again!