Knight Otwoma to lead Lionesses in World Rugby WXV3 tournament

Experienced forward Knight Otwoma is set to guide national women’s rugby team Lionesses in their opening match of the World Rugby WXV3 campaign against Spain scheduled for Saturday 14 October at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Otwoma takes up the number eight position for this game, a change from her usual role as a hooker in the front row.

She joins a formidable backrow alongside Diana Kemunto and Michelle Akinyi, while Naomi Jelegat and Faith Livoi form a strong second row partnership.

The Lionesses front row is composed of Rose Otieno, Staycy Atieno, and vice-captain Natasha Emali. Lewin Amazimbi makes her test debut on the wing, lining up alongside Priscah Nyerere, while Freshia Awino takes on the fullback position.

Diana Omosso assumes the role of starting scrumhalf, forming a crucial partnership with fly half Anne Goretti. In the midfield, Laureen Akoth and rookie Charity Juma combine their talents.

Among the replacements, Maureen Chebet, Edith Nariaka, and Agatha Jamari are all poised for their Lionesses test debuts. They are joined by Naomi Muhanji, Valentine Otieno, Hesla Khisa, and Winnie Owino.

The Lionesses face an acid test in the WXV3 tournament, where they face Spain in their opening match on 14 October before taking on Kazakhstan on 20 October. They play their final pool match against Colombia on October 27.

In spite of the challenge that lay ahead, Otwoma was confident that the ladies were well-prepared for the encounters.

"Be ready for us. We are going to give our best, and we mean business," she concluded.

The Lionesses qualified for the WXV3 competition by finishing second in the Africa Cup where they defeated Madagascar 29-20, saw off Cameroon 52-3, and lost 48-0 to South Africa.

Murunga adamant as Lionesses face acid test in Dubai

In an attempt to prepare them for the upcoming tournament, the Lionesses went for trial matches in South Africa, where they played against Blitzboks ladies and San Clemente. Their first match exposed all their weaknesses as they went down 77-12 to the determined South African matches.

Despite that, the Lionesses visibly worked on their weakness, and when they faced San Clemente on Saturday 23 September, they only lost 22-17. They conceded three tries in the final twelve minutes.

The squad will be coached by former Kenya 7s tactician Paul Murunga. Pau pointed out that their main aim was to expose the ladies to high intensity matches, as well as build a formidable squad.

"We are building up. It is a new version by World Rugby. We have never played in that territory and for women's rugby, it is more of a build up towards better standards. The more rookies we expose to the game the better than maybe having the best all the time.

If we say we focus on good players alone, it means that we will not empower the young ones. So, we will find ourselves in a status like that of Kenya 7s whereby we had stars like Collins Injera for 10-15 years, and when we brought in other players, they were very green," he offered.

The match is set to kick off at 4:00 pm EAT and will be available for live streaming on RugbyPass TV.

Lionesses squad: 15. Freshia Awino, 14. Prisca Nyerere, 13. Charity Juma, 12. Laureen Akoth, 11. Lewin Amazimbi, 10. Ann Goretti, 9. Diana Omosso, 1. Rose Otieno, 2. Staycy Atieno, 3. Natasha Emali (V/C), 4. Naomi Jelagat, 5. Faith Livoi, 6. Michelle Akinyi, 7. Diana Kemunto, 8. Knight Otwoma (C)

REPLACEMENTS 16. Naomi Muhanji, 17. Evelyn Kalemera, 18. Valentine Otieno, 19. Hesla Khisa, 20. Maureen Chebet, 21. Winnie Awino, 22. Edith Nariaka, 23. Agatha Jamari