- Kenya’s sevens sides, the Kenya Lionesses and Shujaa, kicked off the second leg of the HSBC SVNS 2 in Montevideo, Uruguay with defeats.
- The matches were played on Saturday, March 21, in the evening at the Estadio Charrúa.
- The Kenya Lionesses lost 19-5 to China, while Shujaa surrendered a 10-0 lead to the USA 7s, eventually falling 14-10.
It was a tough kickstart to the second leg of the HSBC SVNS 2 in Montevideo, Uruguay, as Kenya’s national sevens teams, the Kenya Lionesses and Shujaa, lost their opening matches on Saturday evening at the Estadio Charrua.
Shujaa, who kicked off their campaign against the USA Eagles 7s, could not hold on to their 10-0 lead as the USA came back to win 14-10, securing back-to-back wins against the Kevin Wambu charges after also beating them in the first leg in Nairobi.
Shujaa had taken an early lead through John Okoth just a minute after the kickoff, though Nygel Amaita missed the conversion. Three minutes later, they stretched their lead to 10-0 with Vincent Onyala touching the whitewash as Amaita missed the conversion once more.
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Just when Shujaa thought they were on track to get revenge against the USA, the Eagles managed to pull off a fight with a try a minute later through David Still.
Orrin Bizer then gave them the second try, and they got lucky with Will Chevalier converting both, the extras making the difference in a match where neither side found the try line in the second half.
Shujaa will have plenty to work on later in the day when they take on Canada in their second match from 9:20 pm EAT.
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Meanwhile, in the women’s category, the Kenya Lionesses kicked off their campaign on a disappointing note as they let it slip against China’s women’s 7s, losing 19-5.
The Simon Odongo charges, who came into this second leg needing nothing short of redemption after falling short in the first leg at home, gave up their narrow 5-0 second lead to drop their opening match.
The Lionesses were the first to draw blood through Edith Nariaka in the ninth minute, though Sinaida Nyachio missed the conversion.
However, two minutes later, China managed to take the lead through Gao Xiaoyang, with Hua Beibei adding the extras as they took a 7-5 lead.
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A minute after the restart, the Lionesses were caught off guard with another try from Le Zhang, who extended their lead after Beibei added the extras to make it 14-5.
They then wrapped it up with another try in the final minutes through Chen Chan, which went unconverted, punishing the Kenya Lionesses, who now see their hopes for HSBC SVNS 1 qualification in jeopardy.
Next, the Kenya Lionesses will take on Argentina, hoping to improve on their mistakes as they face a side that kicked off their campaign with a narrow 12-7 win over Brazil.
Kenya 7s Schedule – HSBC SVNS 2 in Montevideo, Uruguay (March 21–22, 2026)
Kickoff in East African Time EAT.
Kenya Lionesses
Saturday, March 21 Results
- Kenya Lionesses 5-19 China
- Kenya Lionesses vs Argentina – 8:34 pm
- Kenya Lionesses vs Spain – 10:59 pm
Sunday, March 22
- Kenya Lionesses vs South Africa – 8:23 pm
- Kenya Lionesses vs Brazil – 10:53 pm
Shujaa
Saturday, March 21
- Shujaa 10-14 USA
- Shujaa vs Canada – 9:20 pm
- Shujaa vs Belgium – 12:08 am (Monday)
Sunday, March 22
- Shujaa vs Germany – 9:55 pm
- Shujaa vs Uruguay – 12:48 am (Monday)