The Kenya national sevens team Shujaa has been placed in Pool C for the sixth round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in Los Angeles, USA to be hold from February 25-26.

The Darmian McGrath coached side will battle two-time Olympics winners Fiji, HSBC World series defending champions Australia and Japan.

Shujaa have improved in form in recent outings in Hamilton and Sydney, finishing 13th and 10th consecutively and will hope to be in fine form against top sides like Australia and Fiji.

Shujaa’s upturn in form has coincided with recent high profile retirements from the team, as stalwart Willy Ambaka followed in Collins Injera’s heels to announce his retirement from international rugby despite having made the team in the last five consecutive outings.

Mcgrath will hope that Ambaka’s replacement gels well with the rest of the squad as they struggle to beat relegation by the end of the season.

In other pools, Sydney sevens champions New Zealand will have a go at winning their second tournament this season as they battle Samoa, USA and Chile, as Sydney finalists South Africa are pooled together with Ireland, Uruguay and Canada.

Hamilton sevens champions Argentina are placed in Pool D alongside France, Great Britain and Spain.

Shujaa are currently 12th in the HSBC World Sevens series standings with 21 points, 3 points behind Uruguay who are ranked 11th and 14 points behind 10th placed Great Britain.

Twelve teams will be retained for the 2024 season with the 15th ranked teams being dropped at the penultimate leg in Toulouse, France.

Teams placed 12th, 13th and 14th will play a challenger in the final round of the season in London.

Los Angeles Pools

Pool A: New Zealand, Samoa, USA, Chile

Pool B: South Africa, Ireland, Uruguay, Canada

Pool C: Fiji, Australia, Kenya, Japan

Pool D: France, Great Britain, Argentina, Spain.