Kenyan teams had mixed results on the opening day of the HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Nairobi. The Kenya Lionesses managed a win and two losses while the Kenya 7s team alias Shujaa maintained a perfect record with three wins.
The Lionesses suffered an early blow into the tournament, losing marauding forward Phoebe Otieno to injury in their first game. The loss seemed to shock the Lionesses as they quickly went down two tries to Brazil. Despite the setback, the Lionesses managed to claw back and win that game 15-12, their only win on day one.
From then on, the Lionesses found both China and South Africa to be tricky customers as they narrowly lost to the two sides 12-15 and 10-12 respectively. The results put a massive dent to the Lionesses campaign and chances of promotion from HSBC SVNS 2.
On day two, the Lionesses will face Argentina at 11.44 and Spain at 15.56 hrs. Argentina have a spotless day one record having beaten China 20-10, Spain 17-19 and fellow South Americans Brazil 28-17. Spain on the other hand won two games and lost one on day one.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Kenya 7s team managed three wins out of three on day one of the tournament. The Shujaa is one half of only two teams who managed this feat on day one as the USA Eagles also managed three wins out of three.
On their way to the spotless record, Kenya 7s managed to beat Canada 17 – 7, Belgium 33-0 and Germany 15-10. In true save the best for last fashion, Kenya vs Germany lived up to the billing as the Kenya 7s had to dig deep to win the game 15-10 after extra time.
Speaking after the game, Kenya 7s Co-Captain Samuel Asati acknowledged the challenge Germany presented having been a familiar foe before in the path to promotion. “We knew Germany would be a tough side; they do not always make things easy. The last time we met was in the promotion playoffs from Challenger Series in Madrid back in 2024 and we are always weary when we meet them,” said Asati.
On day two, Kenya 7s will be playing against Uruguay at 1250 hrs and against the USA Eagles 1702. Asati is a aware of the danger the two sides pose since they are also familiar foes. “We have faced Uruguay and USA before in the 7s Series and they are not easy sides. We will approach them with the necessary care as we always do with every game.”
Kenyans also got to see youngsters David Nyangige (Kenya 7s), Marvel Oswago (Kenya Lionesses) and Charity Nila (Kenya Lionesses) make their international debuts for their different sides. Nyangige, still only a teenager, even managed to get some score on the board for the Shujaa after converting Floyd Wabwire’s try against Belgium.
An excited Nyangige was elated with his performance, saying that his work is cut out with the likes of Nygel Amaitsa ahead of him. “I still have a lot to learn but I am excited with my performance today. With the likes of Amaitsa ahead of me, I have able players to learn from. I managed to score some points, but my aim is to perform even better tomorrow,” said an excited Nyangige.
Despite the mixed results, one thing is for sure, tomorrow’s fixtures are exciting and mouthwatering. You do not want to be left out.
By James Njenga
