Coach Mwanja takes delight in Lionesses gallant show at Rugby Africa Women’s 7s

Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja has praised his team after finishing second in the just concluded Rugby Africa Women’s 7s tournament in Ghana.

The Lionesses fell in the final hurdle against defending champions South Africa but Mwanja is optimistic of what lies ahead for the girls.

“It was a good experience being out there; it was never going to be an easy task given the dynamics involved in African competitions, so it was tricky for us but we sailed through. We had to turn up, show up and get through to the final first. Our target was winning the cup and though we fell short, we saw a lot of improvement.”

Kenya secured their spot in the 2025 Challenger Series and Mwanja says they have enough depth to help the team hunt for a place in the World Rugby Sevens Series.

 “First of all, last season we were suffering because of depth. Our last tournament just before the play offs, a couple of injuries to our players made us suffer. This year we increased our capacity when we fielded another team in the Safari 7s in the absence of our core team, so we will build on our experience and the team is at a better place. Ideally you should have at least 21 players who are able to play at a certain level, last year we had only 14 but we are looking at an improvement this year.”

The KCB RFC assistant coach says the team has grown in leaps and bounds and will need more exposure and competitive games to have a shot at qualifying for the main series.

“First, its composure, experience and the hunger in the team, the mental fortitude; it’s all those things. It’s a journey, so having a program of rugby; a consistent program that is funded, that is sponsored helps a lot in making sure this dream (of playing in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series) comes true.”

The team quietly jetted back from Ghana after losing 19-10 to South Africa.