The national women’s rugby sevens team Kenya Lionesses will be hoping to maintain the momentum in the secod leg of the Sevens Challenger Series,in CapeTown South Africa.
Lionesses who were crowned winners of the first leg last weekend face Uganda and Belgium in pool A of the March 8-9th round at Athlone Stadium.Uganda reached the 7th place play off where they lost to Czechia while Belgium wound up round one in 9th place.
Kenya beat hosts South Africa in the semi finals before defeating Argentina 17-12 in the final.The team will be banking on the imperious form of some the squad members who were instrumental in their first leg victory.
Captain Grace Okulu who has led from the front scoring a total of four tries including three in the opening game Samoa is expected to lead the line once again for David Mwanja coached side.
Speaking after the first leg win Okulu remarked. “This victory is nice because we’ve never won a Challenger series. It is a milestone for us. I’m happy for the team, and I’m delighted for everyone who supports us. We must carry on with the momentum and prepare hard for the next series this coming weekend. It has been an amazing journey for us and we are happy that things are working out for us.”
After the back to back legs in Cape Town, the top-ranked eight men’s and women’s teams will progress to the third and final tournament at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow on 11-12 April.
The four men’s and women’s teams with the most cumulative points gained across the three Challenger rounds will then qualify for the HSBC SVNS Play Off in Los Angeles on 3 – 4 May, where they will face the bottom four ranked teams from HSBC SVNS 2025 in a high-stakes promotion and relegation tournament with four coveted places in 2025-26 World Rugby Sevens series at stake.
