Mwanja praises Lionesses after WXV 3 qualification

Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja has hailed his charges after, securing qualification to the inaugural World Rugby WXV-3 competition by virtue of a second place finish at the 2023 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup First Division tournament staged in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 20-28 May.

Speaking after the match, Mwanja said the team displayed great mental resilience and stuck to its structure and game plan throughout the weeklong tournament.

His side defeated Cameroon 52-3 to confirm second place and Mwanja attributed this victory to their ability to stick to the game plan by playing the ball wide, hitting space and quick recycling.

Lionesses beat Cameroon to qualify for newly launched World Rugby WXV 3 Championship

Commenting on the areas that still need improvement going into October’s WXV-3, Mwanja highlighted the team’s ball handling under pressure and sticking to defensive systems as areas that still need to be worked on.

The Lionesses began their campaign with a 29-20 win over hosts Madagascar on Saturday 20 May before losing to eventual winners South Africa 0-48 on Wednesday 24 May. They would bounce back to defeat Cameroon 52-3 in the final round of fixtures on Sunday 28 May 2023.

With one win from the opening two matches, Kenya knew a bonus-point win would likely be enough to book their place in WXV 3, whatever happened in Sunday’s second match between South Africa and Madagascar, and they started quickly at Stade Makis.

Less than four minutes in, Nelly Chikombe touched down to give the Lionesses their opening try of the match. Grace Okulu added the extras and then converted her own score two minutes later to help Kenya build a 14-0 lead within the blink of an eye.

The Lionesses found it more difficult to break down the Cameroon defence as the half wore on but with Gladys Magala in the sin bin, Judith Okumu supplied the third Kenyan try of the match to give her side a 19-0 half-time lead.

Cameroon’s task was made infinitely harder in the 47th minute as Danielle Moudangwedi was shown a red card, but it was the west Africans who struck next as Assouga Rosine Ntsa landed a penalty.

Any hopes of an unlikely comeback were quashed soon afterwards, though, as Phoebe Otieno notched the try that confirmed a bonus point for Kenya.

Stella Wafula and Okulu breached the Cameroon try-line twice more in the next 10 minutes, and the Lionesses would run in another two tries in the final quarter to make the score 52-3 at full-time.

Kenya join Ireland and Kazakhstan in confirming their place in WXV 3. Those three teams will be joined by either Italy or Spain and one each from Oceania and South America.

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Reporting by Kenya Rugby Union