Africa Women's 7s: Lionesses claim Migingo Rights after nerve-shredding win over Uganda to reach final
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 16.11.25. | 13:27
In the earlier semifinal, South Africa’s Springbok Women swept past Madagascar with a dominant 29-0 win
The Kenya Lionesses are through to the Africa Women’s 7s final after edging regional rivals Uganda Lady Cranes 17–10 in a tense semifinal showdown on Sunday, 16 November at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi.
In a fixture that lived up to its billing as an East African derby, the Lionesses secured bragging rights, popularly referred to as “Migingo rights".
The clash was a repeat of the Safari 7s final, where Kenya narrowly defeated Uganda 14–10. On Sunday, the script remained the same.
The match kicked off at a blistering pace, with both sides battling for dominance. Uganda settled quickest, capitalising on early Kenyan errors.
Despite an infringement, a misjudged lineout from the Lionesses handed possession back to Uganda, allowing them to build momentum.
Their persistence paid off when Peace Lekuru powered over for the opening try.
The conversion sailed wide, but the Lady Cranes had made their intentions clear.
Uganda returned from the break with renewed fire.
They almost extended their lead early in the second half, only for Kenya’s Naomi Amuguni to produce a crucial try-saving stop that kept the Lionesses within touching distance.
But the Ugandans were relentless.
Working from a lineout deep in Kenyan territory, they strung together a series of neat passes before grounding their second try of the afternoon.
Again, the conversion failed, but at 10–5, the pressure was firmly on Kenya.
The Lionesses responded by camping in Uganda’s 22, but multiple phases yielded no points as the Lady Cranes held their defensive line with grit.
Then came the moment of magic.
When Kenya finally secured clean ball, Amuguni spotted space, picked up the ball, and burst through the Ugandan defence with a blistering run to score the decisive try.
The successful conversion pushed Kenya into a 17–10 lead that they fiercely protected until the final whistle.
The Lionesses will face South Africa in the final. It will be a repeat of the 2024 edition where the Blitzboks women saw off Kenya 12-7 in Accra, Ghana.
South Africa Dominate in First Semifinal
In the earlier semifinal, South Africa’s Springbok Women swept past Madagascar with a dominant 29-0 win.
Refereed by Zimbabwe’s Precious Pazani, the Blitzboks Women opened the scoring when Simamkele Namba crossed after a penalty advantage led to a scrum
A crisp set of passes off the base of the scrum sliced open Madagascar’s defence. The conversion was missed, but South Africa were up 5–0.
Ayanda Malinga added a second try in the corner, with Nadine Roos slotting the conversion for a 12–0 lead.
Simamkele then completed her brace, punishing yet another Malagasy error to push the lead further.
In the second half, captain Nadine joined the scoresheet with a powerful run to the line.
The conversion was unsuccessful, but the South Africans had already done more than enough to secure their spot in the final.
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