The Kenya Lionesses in action during the Rugby Africa 7s in Tunisia. PHOTO/Rugby Afrique
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Despite losing by a point to South Africa in the finals of the Africa 7s in Tunisia on Sunday evening, the Kenya Lionesses have booked a ticket to next year’s Olympic Games on Tokyo.
South Africa will not earn the ticket to the Olympic Games due to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s internal rules not permitting them to qualify for the Olympic Games directly from the African Regional Qualifier tournament.
Apart from booking a slot in the Olympics for a second consecutive time, the Lionesses have also earned themselves a slot for the Hong Kong leg of the World Sevens Series qualification set to be staged in April 2020.
The Lionesses put up a stellar performance in Tunisia and won all their games save for the final which they lost by a slim 15-14 margin, thus losing their African crown. They only conceded one try in the 26-5 victory over Zimbabwe in the Cup quarters.
The Lionesses went through to the Cup Quarters with a 100pc record having beaten Ghana 36-0, Botswana 49-0 and Senegal 36-0 to top pool A. In the semis, they floored Tunisia 19-0 to book the South Africans in the final.
Madagascar who finished third and home side Tunisia who clinched fourth spot will now drop to the repecharge tournament set for June next year where they will fight for a spot in Tokyo alongside France, Russia, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Jamaica.
