Lionesses sharpening rough edges ahead of crucial Repechage qualifier

With only three days left before their crucial Rugby World Cup 2021 Repechage qualifier clash against Colombia, the women’s national rugby 15s team, Kenya Lionesses, have shifted focus to sharpening their rough edges ahead of the match that is scheduled for Wednesday 25 August at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Coming off the back of completely different performances in two test matches held in South Africa against the Springbok Women this past week, the side coached by Felix Oloo showed a lot of promise leading up to the tie against Colombia’s Las Tucanes.

Following a 66-0 drubbing in the first test match against the top ranked African women's side, Lionesses registered a spirited performance in the second test as they lost to a narrow 29-22 score courtesy of an injury-time try from the Springbok women after the scores were level heading into the final minutes of the second half.

Following their excursions down under, Oloo revealed that the side, currently in a bio-bubble training camp at the Parklands Sports Club, is working on improving areas that they noted were weak links to the side.

“We are seeking clarity in set pieces and rucks in terms of how we really want to play. We are really happy to have the services of a scrum specialist and a line out master, It has really gone well to answer questions that we were having as a team as to why things were not working in our favour in as much as we were doing well in scrums. We also want to sharpen our kicking skills as part of achieving our objectives and goals,” the head coach said.

Should Kenya win their match against Colombia, the team will face off with four other teams for a place in the 2021 Rugby World Cup. Kenya’s Lionesses earned their ticket to this stage of the competition after finishing second behind South Africa in the 2019 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup while Colombia’s Las Tucanes defeated Brazil 23-19 in their Sudamérica Rugby region playoff fixture on Saturday 7 March 2020.

The repechage tournament will consist of the second placed teams in the Asia, Europe, Oceania regional tournaments and the winner of this play-off between Kenya and Lionesses.

The 2021 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup for women. It is set to be held in New Zealand in the cities of Auckland and Whangārei from 8 October to 12 November 2022.