Lionesses eyeing more glory after winning 2025 Challenger Series

History was written as the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series came to a conclusion on Saturday in Krakow - Poland, with the Kenya Lionesses being crowned champions for the first time.

The Dennis Mwanja-coached Lionesses exhibited zest and zeal across the three rounds, winning two Cup titles in South Africa and finishing third in Krakow, to top the standings with 56 points.

Lionesses won their opening match in Krakow 12-0 against Belgium, before falling 28-12 to Thailand but bounced back in their last pool match, overcoming Colombia 12-7.

The two wins meant Kenya secured a semi finals slot, in which the Lionesses lost 22-10 to South Africa.

In the third-place playoff, Kenya served a sweet revenge against Thailand who had beaten them in the pool matches, this time round beating them 27-19, ensuring the overall series win.

South Africa, who won the Krakow meet, settled for second place with 54 points, while Argentina and Colombia finished third and fourth respectively.

Thus, the top four teams; Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, and Colombia qualified for the final promotion playoffs set to take place in Los Angeles, where they will face the bottom four teams from the Women’s top tier series.

In the men’s Challenger Series, Portugal were crowned champions and will be joined by Germany, Canada, and Samoa in the Los Angeles playoffs.

Having finished ninth in the HSBC World Sevens Series, Kenya’s Shujaa will feature in the playoffs, alongside Ireland, Uruguay and the USA who finished 10th, 11th and 12th respectively in battle for a place in the 2026 top Series.