Kenya Lionesses coach Dennis Mwanja during an interview at Nation Centre, Nairobi on Thursday.
Faced with a silent revolt in the team over unpaid allowances and little attention from the rugby authorities, Kenya Lionesses sevens head coach Dennis “Iron Man” Mwanja knew he had a delicate situation to handle.
He sat town the disgruntled girls and presented them with two scenarios.
Mwanja, had taken over the Kenya Lionesses job from Felix Ade, who had moved to the United States of America in 2022. In fact, an opportunity had also presented itself to Mwanja to move to Germany but the girls convinced him to stay and coach them.
“I knew deep inside me that there was something in these girls that needed to be stirred and they would start playing some of the best rugby we have seen on this continent,” says the 44-year-old coach.
Failing to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games had devastated the players.
Kenya Lionesses lost 12-7 to South Africa succumbing to a last-gasp try conceded during the 2023 Africa Cup that doubled up as the qualifier for the Paris Olympics in October.
The dropped to the 2024 final qualifier in Monaco in June 2024 but once again came up short, losing 24-7 to China in the final. Their Paris Olympic dreams had come a cropper.
With morale low, money more so, the girls had literally reached their lowest ebb end. That is when Mwanja brought out the two scenarios.
Kenya Lionesses coach Dennis Mwanja during an interview at Nation Centre, Nairobi on Thursday.
He told them about the Kenya Shujaa, who were first invited to the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2000 before becoming a core side in 2004.
It was easy for Mwanja to share this story, he was a core part of the team in the early 2000s playing alongside great like Benjamin Ayimba, Oscar Osir, Lucas Onyango, Mitch Ocholla, Charles Cardovillis and Felix Ochieng.
He then told them how Shujaa gallantly fought back to regain its place in the series last year after their dramatic relegation in 2023.
“I told my players that they too can conquer the world if they reflected on this and believe in themselves. That is the fire I started with them and it wasn’t something easy,” says Mwanja, who crafted a communication system that had him engage the players one-on-one. “We send each other podcasts and video clips reminding each other how it’s possible.
Mwanja said that what also changed the girls’ approach was when they started training with Shujaa, who have been good brothers to them, helping them out, and encouraging them.
“Shujaa being relegated and fighting back to get to the series has been an inspiration,” said Mwanja as he also shared the inspiring stories of three-time Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon and world 800m champion Mary Moraa.
“I told them either they chose to sit back and let challenges like lack of sponsors and allowances weigh them down or fight. Many girls had left the team but again, you can’t blame them. Kipyegon and Moraa just hail from humble background like them,” says Mwanja.
The girls bought into Mwanja’s talk and vowed not to let anything distract them during the 2025 season with their ultimate target being the Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series qualification.
“They pledged to me they will announce themselves at the world stage, cancel all the past defeats against South Africa and others team. They vowed never to cry again. They now want something for themselves and their families,” Mwanja let on.
Kenya Lionesses storming run in the ongoing 2025 Women’s World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series has been the result.
The Kenyan girls won the first two legs held in Cape Town in March 1-2 and March 7-8 to top the 12-team standings with 40 points. They beat Argentina 17-12 in the final to win Cape Town I after defeating South Africa 19-15 in the semi-finals. They would then again crush South Africa 17-0 in the Cape Town II final.
Next on is the final leg on April 11-12 in Krakow, Poland. Top four teams from the Challenger will join the bottom four from the World Series in the big relegation play-offs in May in Los Angeles.
“What we are seeing now in women sevens is the fruits of the culture we have cultivated around commitment, discipline and resilience,” Mwanja says. “It’s a process not event. We have lost many opportunities, fallen short many times but we are rising in the sevens game and want to replicate that in the 15s team.”
Mwanja has established depth in the team. Grace Okulu, Stella Wafula, Christabel Lindo and Sheila Chagira are core players but the likes of Sharon Auma, Freshia Awino, Maureen Muritu, Faith Livoi and Phoebe Akinyi are capable covers.
“Our vision and driving force is to get to World Series. What we have is a foundation we have put in place. We have gelled as a team but need to work even harder,” says Mwanja.
Embracing women’s rugby wasn’t in Mwanja’s plan, having been part of former Kenya Sevens coach
Paul Treu’s bench. Treu resigned in a huff in December 2014 citing unfavourable working conditions.
“My stay with Shujaa was short-lived when Treu left,” says Mwanja, a former Kenya Simbas and Kenya Sevens flanker.
“It was around this time that I would take my daughter to watch women’s rugby on Sunday after church. I never imagined that one day I would be coaching these girls.”
Mwanja unsuccessfully applied for the Kenya Sevens job several times but as fate would have it, he was tapped into Kenya Lionesses by then head coach of the team Ade in March 2022.
Ade would leave the country a month later throwing Mwanja into the deep end with the responsibility of taking Kenya Lionesses to the 2022 Africa Women’s Sevens Cup in Tunis where the team finished fifth.
“It was unheard of …there was a lot of hue and cry from people about the coaching. Yes, I was green, having just taken over the team a month earlier,’ says Mwanja, who holds a World Rugby Level II certification.
How was it working with the girls?
“There were emotions and lack of patience. I was with KCB, a club that was fully sponsored and here I was with a women’s team that had no financial banking. Getting allowances for the players was a big issue,” says Mwanja.
Mwanja’s next assignment was the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile. It is at that time that the Kenya Lionesses head coach job was advertised and he ended up being officially confirmed.
The team shocked many when they beat China 17-15, stunned South Africa 31-5 and Chile 15-5 to top their pool. They went on to beat Argentina 24-7 in the quarters before losing to Japan 22-15 in the semi-finals. They would settle for fourth place after losing to China 31-5 to miss out on the promotion play-offs.
“We really punched above our weight. Something was happening to the team. There was desire,” says Mwanja.
The following year Kenya Lionesses XV under Mwanja, who was now increasingly understanding his charged, 15 dismissed Uganda and Zambia to qualify for the Africa Cup in May where thumped Madagascar and Cameroon but lost 48-0 to South Africa.
Lionesses qualified WXV3 after finishing second while SA earned a ticket to WXV2.
At the WXV3 Kenya finished fourth behind Ireland, Fiji and Spain. “I was proud of the girls. We had worked on a team culture of resilience and commitment,” said the former Ulinzi and KCB player.
