- Grace Okulu played an instrumental role in the match to help Kenya Lionesses overpower Samoa.
- Kenya Lionesses scored their tries via Okulu and Naomi Amuguni.
- The team is scheduled to play their second match on Saturday from 7:30 PM East African Time (EAT).
The Kenya women’s national rugby 7s team, Kenya Lionesses, started their World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series 2025 on a high.
This is after they hammered Samoa 20-05 in their opening match of the ongoing tournament that is being held at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa.
The team’s captain Grace Okulu led from the front to guide Kenya to a comfortable victory as she scored the first try of the game when she sprinted down the left wing but they unluckily failed to make a conversion.
The talented player bagged another try at the stroke of half time to ensure Kenya Lionesses went to the break with a well-deserved 10-0 lead.
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However, Samoa managed to find a breakthrough at the early stages of the second half but Naomi Amuguni restored Kenya’s ten-point lead shortly after to make the score board read 15-5.
As Samoa tried their best to get back into the game, Okulu scored another brilliant try to register her hat-trick and put the game beyond the reach of their rivals.
Kenya Lionesses will be hoping to continue with their good form in the next match against Poland later today. The match will start at exactly 7:30 PM.
After the Cape Town leg, Kenya Lionesses will feature in the second leg of the Challenger Series that is also slated to take place in Cape Town between March 7 and March 8.
Should the Dennis Mwanja-coached side finish inside the top eight positions at the end of the two legs, they will book a ticket to the last round where they will battle it out for a top-four finish in order to play in the HSBC SVNS promotion/relegation playoff.
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The last round of the HSBC Challenger Series and the HSBC SVNS playoff will be staged in Krakow, Poland and Los Angeles, United States in that order.
According to the organizers, the final leg of the HSBC Challenger Series is set to be held between April 11 and April 12 while the playoff will go down from May 3 to May 4.
Kenya Lionesses squad for Cape Town HSBC Challenger Series tournament
- Naomi Amuguni
- Christabel Lindo
- Sheila Chajira
- Stellah Wafula
- Faith Livoi
- Moreen Muritu
- Sinaida Mokaya
- Freshia Oduor
- Judith Okumu
- Grace Okulu (Captain)
- Sharon Auma
- Diana Ochieng
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