Kenya failed to make the semi-finals on this occasion but a fifth-place finish was enough for them to finish as runners-up to Uruguay in the final standings. Kenya 7s John Okoth in action against Mexico. PHOTO/Mike Lee for World Rugby South American rivals Uruguay and Chile went into the third and final round of the Challenger in the top two positions, followed by Kenya, with Hong Kong China and Germany locked together on the same amount of points in the battle to claim a place in the top four come the end of the Challenger series.
All five teams had safely made it through to the quarter-finals after the opening day’s play to set things up nicely for Sunday at the sun-baked Dantestadion in Munich. Fans were kept on the edge of their seats, with the home supporters in particular put through an emotional rollercoaster, as the action lived up to its billing. The Wolfpack had to progress further in the tournament than Hong Kong China to claim one of the top four places in the final standings but their dreams nearly ended at the quarter-final stage against Kenya when they had Ben Ellermann sent off.
However, despite playing with a man down for seven minutes and trailing for most of the contest, Germany held their nerve to fashion a score for the lightning-quick Jakob Dipper, Felix Hufnagel drilling over the conversion for a thrilling 19-17 win and a date with Hong Kong China in the semi-finals. Hong Kong China had made short work of Tonga, winning their quarter-final 42-14, whil.
