The Kenya Lionesses celebrate after winning the Africa Women’s 7s title in Gaborone, Botswana on May 27, 2018. PHOTO/KRU
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 10 – The national women rugby team, the Kenya Lionesses, have landed an invite for the second leg of the World Sevens Series in Dubai which is scheduled for November 29-30.
The Lionesses, crowned African champions earlier in May, will be making their maiden appearance at the World Series having been previously participating on invitational tournaments in Dubai and Hong Kong.
Dubai is now the second leg of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series after World Rugby introduced the USA Women’s Sevens in Glendale, the new opening round.
The invite is a brilliant way of crowning the year for the Lionesses who have enjoyed so much success, the African title being the crowning moment so far.
Lionesses beat neighbors Uganda 29-7 in the final taking much advantage of the absence of rivals South Africa who had chosen not to participate in the Cup of Nations with their concentration tied on the World Cup.
At the Hong Kong Sevens, the Kevin Wambua coached side reached the final only losing 24-12 to Fiji and were inches close to earning a direct berth as a core team in the series.
They topped Pool B with victories over Canada and Spain and only narrowly lost 28-26 to Australia. They went on to beat Scotland 19-12 in the Cup quarters then beat New Zealand’s Black Ferns 21-12 in the semis and eventually lost the final 24-12 to Fiji.
At the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia, the team finished in sixth place after losing 40-5 to Fiji in the fifth place play-off.
