Kenya Lionesses eye World Rugby 7s Series qualification

The national 7s women's side, Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja has opened up on what qualifying for the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Series would mean as they prepare for the qualifiers slated for Santiago, Chile.

The winner of the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series which consists of 12 nations will earn an automatic qualification to the Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series.

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Mwanja who turned out for Kenya 7s during his heydays admitted that the Lionesses are still behind their men’s side, Shujaa but revealed that qualification would open up many opportunities for the ladies.

“The Lionesses team is still behind the men’s team but this is a team that can make a difference if we qualify for the series it will open more doors for invites.

Some of our players are playing professionally like Janet Okello who is at Philadelphia Olando which means there is a market out there but it also depends on where you play, scouts mostly look for players at the Olympics, Commonwealth and World Cup and that is where we need to get,” said Mwanja.

The Lionesses have a mountain to climb in the qualifiers after being drawn in Pool D where they will face African champions South Africa, hosts Chile, and China.

Mwanja’s side took part in a friendly match against Club Select Ladies Rugby drawn from a number of Kenyan teams as he admitted they still have their work cut out before the tournament slated for Friday 12 August.

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“We are preparing for the Series qualifiers and taking part in this kind of competition will give our girls different opposition and see how they can play.

There is still a lot of work to be done with the Kenya Lionesses and we know a lot of improvement can be done and from where we have come from we have made a few steps,” Mwanja told Sports Eye.