Mwanja explains what cost Lionesses the HSBC Challenger Series title

Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja has outlined the factors that contributed to the team falling short of clinching the HSBC Challenger Series played in Dubai from January 12-14.

The hard-hitting Lionesses ended the highly competitive tournament in second place after going down 19-5 to China in the final.

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They kickstarted their campaign with a 17-12 win over China before narrowly going down 12-10 to Czechia in their second pool match. They would then serve Mexico with rugby lessons after thrashing them 40-0 in their final pool match to cruise to the tournament's quarterfinals.

At the quarterfinal stage, the fierce Lionesses handed Czechia a 22-12 beating to successfully get their revenge. The win saw them book a slot in the semifinal stage where they whitewashed Argentina 17-0 to sail through to the tournament's final.

Speaking after the tournament, Mwanja who is a former Kenya 7s International noted that they took too long to settle into the game, a factor that cost them. By the time they got into the match, China had done the damage already.

"We started the game slowly and we settled into the game when it was too late," Mwanja started.

"7s is very quick and unforgiving. So, they took their chances and scored early. We were not proactive, we were reactive so by the time we were catching up, it was a little too late. They also took advantage of the injuries we had because our players were not at 100 percent. But that is part of every tournament," he continued.

Kenya had overpowered China in their opening match and their fans anticipated a repeat of the same. Mwanja called for calm, noting that preliminary matches were very different from the finals.

"A final game is very different from the preliminary games. We could not guarantee beating them in the final because we beat them in the preliminaries," he averred.

The tactician who also doubles up as the KCB Rugby assistant coach noted that the ladies were showing great progress. He noted that they were keen to work on their shortcomings to emerge victorious in the upcoming tournaments.

"We are happy about the progress of the team. We look at our positives and go and correct our weak points as we look forward to the remaining legs of the Challenger Series," the tactician stated.

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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger 2024 dates

Montevideo, Uruguay – 8-10 March 2024 (men and women)

Krakow, Poland – 18-19 May, 2024 (women)