Lionesses pool opponents Papua New Guinea pull out of Olympic repechage

Kenya Lionesses’ first opponents Papua New Guinea have withdrawn from the Olympics Repechage Tournament slated for June 21 to 23.

The announcement, first published by World Rugby on 18 June, has been attributed to reasons with “player welfare, and due to the team, plus that of the men’s, not securing the necessary travel documentation to meet their pre-tournament arrival deadline.”

Their withdrawal will therefore see the Lionesses play only two matches; Samoa and Argentina on Saturday 22, with Terms of Participation agreement indicating that all pool matches involving Papua New Guinea will be treated as void with no points awarded.

Kenya were set to play Papua New Guinea at 5:20pm today.

“Following the withdrawal of Papua New Guinea from the tournament, the Lionesses match against PNG will not take place as earlier announced. The ladies will only play Samoa and Argentina tomorrow at 2:20pm and 7:44pm respectively in the pool matches,” a statement by Kenya Rugby Union on Friday read.

The Lionesses are in Pool A, alongside Argentina, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa.

The side missed an opportunity to automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after succumbing to a 12-7 defeat against South Africa in the 2023 Rugby Africa Women’s 7s Cup final played in July 2023 in Monastir, Tunisia.

The repechage is their final chance to book a plane to Paris.

Olympics repechage squad

Janet Okello and Grace Adhiambo Okulu have rejoined the squad.

The pair, who play for Japanese club MIE Pearls, were unable to participate in the third leg of the HSBC Sevens Challenger in Krakow, Poland due to club commitments.

Terry Ayesa and Phoebe Akinyi, who played in Poland, are not included in the Monaco squad. Instead, rookies Edith Nariaka and Freshia Oduor have been retained for the tournament.

Sheila Chajira, Naomi Amuguni, Stella Wafula, Maureen Muritu, Christabel Lindo, Grace Okulu, Sinaida Mokaya, Sharon Auma, Janet Okello, and Judith Okumu all are in the squad.

Young Lioness Nyachio hoping to bring A-game on board during Olympics qualifiers

Meanwhile, in Pool B, Uganda will play alongside Hong Kong, China, Paraguay, and Jamaica, while China, Poland, Mexico, and Czechia have been placed in Pool C.

The pools were drawn on Saturday, 20 April, at an event in Monaco ahead of the crucial final qualification tournament to decide the last remaining men’s and women’s teams to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The tournament will feature 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams, all vying to achieve the ultimate prize of representing their country on the biggest global sporting stage of them all.