On Wednesday 11th June 2025, the Kenya Lionesses suffered a narrow 12-19 loss to South Africa in the second round of matches at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup.
The Bok Women drew first blood in the match as Aphiwe Ngwevu scored the opening try, converted by Mary Zulu. A few minutes later, Lerato Makua extended South Africa’s lead with the conversion drifting wide. The Lionesses managed to put up a strong defensive wall that denied their opponents a third opportunity to get past the try line in this half, bringing the scores to 12-0 at the break.
Come the second half, both teams seemed to level in attack and defense as none crossed over the whitewash until the 67th minute when Nobuhle Mjwara scored a converted center post try extending their lead to 19-0. The Lionesses were relentless in the last 10 minutes of the match, off a breakdown, they spread the ball wide to find the fast-paced Freshia Oduor who flew past her defender on the wing to land a converted center post try.
Minutes later and after several infringements by South Africa, Noleen Khaleyi spotted a gap in the breakdown inside South Africa’s 5M mark and she landed Kenya’s second try. Conversion however went unsuccessful and the score board read 19-12 at full time.
The ladies now prepare to face Uganda in their last clash on Sunday 15th June.
