Odera lauds Lionesses after impressive shows in Cape Town

“Their greatest asset when you look at it from the outside was their mental strength; if you look at those ladies, they were so focused. It didn’t matter if they conceded a try, it didn’t matter if they were under pressure but they worked together as a team. So, that is an area that we now even have to take one or two levels higher because remember rugby is going to get harder and the teams we beat will be analysing us and looking to come back.”

On Captain Grace Okulu’s performance in SA, Odera said “the captain, I can’t ask anymore of her both as a leader and as a player because she led from the front; whether it’s by scoring tries, whether it was defensive work, she held that team together by example, by her attitude and by her skill.”

Odera highlighted some of the areas the team should be looking to improve on ahead of their third outing in Krakow, Poland later in April.

“On attack I think we can perhaps improve on our handling; I mean they got better and better so that was a good thing. Their defense organization was very good because they were able to keep their defensive shape; now it's just to improve on their tackling technique. So, I would pick those areas for us to try and make some improvements,” averred Odera. 

The Lionesses are gearing up for the third and last leg of Challenger Series set to be played in Poland, before the playoffs to be staged in Los Angeles - May 2025.