Lionesses edging closer to the top of Africa- coach

Kenya Lionesses are edging closer to the top of the continental game, head coach, Kevin Wambua asserted when the team returned home from their narrow 17-21 loss to titans South Africa in the Cup final of Africa 7s in Harare, Zimbabwe over the weekend.

Wambua who was on his first assignment with team hailed the performance of the girls from the pool stage to the finals where they ran the favourites close as opposed to last year’s Olympics qualifiers where South Africa crushed them.

“Every team we played has improved and it’s a plus for Africa because it seems like women’s rugby is heading to the right direction.

“For us to reach the finals was a very big plus. We picked up a lot of positives ahead of our coming fixtures, everyone played their part, there is a lot more in store from the team and we are slowly bridging the gap between us and South Africa,” the coach asserted.

The team was hosted by the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) automotive partners, General Motors East Africa to a reception at a Nairobi hotel on Monday night following their arrival from Zimbabwe.

KRU Director, Disciplinary and Bye-Laws, John Kilonzo, who led the delegation to Zimbabwe added, “We need to work harder at supporting women in sports in Kenya. We are extremely proud of the Lionesses.”

In the finals the Lionesses took a 10-7 lead in the first half, but the South Africa fought back to take a 10-17 advantage.

Kenya levelled the scores at 17-17, but a late try sealed the victory for their opponents who failed to travel to the Rio 2016 Olympics despite winning the qualifiers when the South Africa Rugby Union withdrew them from competition giving Lionesses the chance.

Lionesses had earlier topped their pool, starting their campaign with a 17-12 win over Tunisia before thrashing Madagascar 40-0 and Uganda 39-5 to reach the Cup semis where a 31-5 win over hosts Zimbabwe got them to the final.