Why Grace Okulu and Janet Okello will not feature for Lionesses in final Challenger Series

The Kenya Lionesses squad announced on Friday morning that they will travel to Poland for the final round of the HSBC Challenger Series, scheduled for May 18–19.

The absence of the experienced duo of Grace Okulu and Janet Okello from the squad raised eyebrows. In their absence, debutants Freshia Oduor and Edith Nariaka appeared.

According to the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), bureaucratic constraints have barred the duo’s participation. Their club, MIE Pearls in Japan, has not released them.

"Freshia Oduor and Edith Nairaka come in for the Japan-based duo of Grace Okulu and Janet Okello, who have not been released for this assignment by their club, MIE Pearls." KRU's statement clarified.

Sheila Chajira will captain the team.

The star-studded squad includes talented scrum half Judith Okumu, speedster Sharon Auma, and Naomi Amuguni. Winger Terry Ayesa, who was on duty with the Lionesses in the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar, will join the team.

The Lionesses will start their campaign with a match against hosts Poland at 1:28 p.m. on Saturday, before facing Belgium at 4:32 p.m. At 6:52 p.m., they will end their hunt with a match against Mexico.

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The Dennis Mwanja-coached side will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways after finishing the Montevideo challenge in eighth place after going down 22-27 to Hong Kong in the seventh-place playoff.

About the Challenger Series

The introduction of the Challenger in February 2020 aimed to accelerate the global growth of rugby sevens and establish a clear path to the top of the game's short format, which has seen significant growth over the past two decades since the global sevens series' introduction and its inclusion as an Olympic sport at the Rio 2016 Games.

The bigger and better-than-ever 2024 edition of the Challenger kicked off with a combined men's and women's event at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on January 12–14, followed by the second round at Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo, before standalone women's and men's events at Henryk Reyman's Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland, and Dantestadion in Munich, Germany, respectively.

The top four teams in both the men's and women's standings will qualify for a standalone promotion-relegation tournament against the bottom four teams from HSBC SVNS 2024.

Four men's and four women's teams will emerge from those tournaments in Madrid to complete the lineup for HSBC SVNS 2025.

Lionesses squad to Poland

Sheila Chajira (captain), Judith Okumu, Christabel Lindo, Stella Wafula, Naomi Amuguni, Terry Ayesa, Sharon Auma, Sinaida Nyachio, Phoebe Akinyi, Maureen Muritu, Freshia Oduor (debut), and Edith Nariaka (debut).