Kenya Lionesses roar to victory, secure first global sevens title
Kenya Lionesses celebrate their Cup victory at the 2025 HSBC Sevens Challenger - Cape Town 1 at Athlone Sports Stadium on March 2, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
What you need to know:
- The second leg of the Cape Town Challenger Series will take place on March 7-8, with the top eight teams after both Cape Town legs advancing to the third leg in Krakow, Poland, in April.
- In Poland, the best four teams will face the bottom four teams from the 2024-2025 World Rugby Sevens Series, battling for a spot in the 2025-2026 World Series.
Kenya Lionesses secured their first-ever global silverware in rugby sevens after a 17-12 victory over Argentina in the season-opening leg of the World Rugby Challenger Series in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday.
Coach Dennis Mwanja’s charges, who outclassed arch-rivals South Africa 19-15 in the semi-finals, dominated the final, securing a routine victory over the South Americans.
Former captain Judith Okumu and current skipper Grace Okulu each scored a brace of tries, with Okulu converting her own try.
Kenya took a 7-5 lead at halftime after a well-worked try, despite Marianela Escalante pulling Argentina within two points just before the break.
In the second half, Okumu extended Kenya’s advantage with a try four minutes in, before sealing the victory with her second try at the 13-minute mark.
Though Sofia Gonzalez converted Candela Delgado’s late try, it was too little, too late to stop the Lionesses from claiming a famous victory.
The Lionesses have historically enjoyed a strong record against Argentina, having defeated them 19-17 in the group stage and 15-12 in the ranking matches of the Final Olympic Qualification tournament.
"We are happy with the win. It was a happy weekend for us. What worked for us was just sticking to our structure and teamwork," said Okumu.
Kenya's Freshia Oduor scores a try against South Africa during their women's Cup Semifinal match at the 2025 HSBC Sevens Challenger - Cape Town 1 at Athlone Sports Stadium on March 2, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
In the semi-finals, Kenya staged a remarkable comeback victory over South Africa, a team that has long been a thorn in their flesh.
South Africa took an early 10-0 lead within the first four minutes, thanks to tries from Nadine Roos and Maria Tshiremba.
However, Kenya remained unshaken, responding with two quick converted tries to head into the break leading 14-10.
Their advantage grew further when a South African player was sin-binned, allowing Freshia Oduor to exploit the numerical edge and extend the lead to 19-10.
Though Roos scored her second try late in the game, time ran out before South Africa could mount a comeback.
South Africa bounced back to claim third place, thrashing Colombia 29-0 in the third-place playoff.
The second leg of Series will take place on March 7-8 at the same venue with the top eight teams after both Cape Town legs advancing to the third leg in Krakow, Poland, in April.
In Poland, the best four teams will face the bottom four teams from the 2024-2025 World Rugby Sevens Series, battling for a spot in the 2025-2026 World Series.