Shujaa, Lionesses enter semi-finals at Dubai leg of Challenger Series

Kenya Sevens and Kenya Lionesses are through to the semi-finals of their respective World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Dubai.

The Lionesses are up against Argentina at 12.15pm while Shujaa will square it out with Uruguay at 12.37pm all on Sunday.

Uruguay stopped Tonga 21-14 in the other quarter-final duel as Germany also reached the semi-finals, beating Hong Kong China 19-7. They will meet Chile who dismantled Georgia in the semis.   

Shujaa withstood a battle of nerves as they rallied from behind twice, 5-0 and 12-7, to edge out Japan 21-19 and sail through as Lionesses claimed a swift revenge, beating Czech 22-12 in the quarter-final.

The Lionesses also came from behind twice, 5-0 and 12-7, to tie the duel at 12-12 before pulling away to win, scoring four tries. 

Anthony Omondi converted Samuel Asati, Nygel Amaitsa and Patrick Odongo tries which were enough to silence Japan, who staged a late rally that proved futile. 

Kippei Taninaka landed to give Japan a 5-0 lead but Amaitsa cancelled it as Omondi added the extras to give Shujaa a 7-5 lead at the break. 

But the lead changed to 12-7 when Yoshihiro Noguchi beat Shujaa’s defence to land before Kippei Taninaka converted. Asati and Odongo’s tries putr Kenya ahead 21-12 as Festus Shiasi got a red card.

Takamasa Maruo landed a try from the resulting infringement with a conversion coming from Yoshihiro Noguchi but all was in vain. 

Shujaa finished their preliminary campaign on a bad note when they fell to Germany 24-12 to settle second in Pool “C” with six points as the Germans topped with nine points.

Naomi Amuguni’s try cancelled Anežka-Marta Sládková's try as Sinaida Nyachio converted to put Kenya Lionesses on the driver’s seat. Sinaida would be sin-binned at the stroke of half-time.

Sládková reclaimed the lead for Czech 12-7 with a try that Julie Doležilová converted but Sinaida returned to convert Stella Wafula’s try as Amuguni sealed her double. Kenya took charge to lead 17-12 even as Grace Okullu’s boot missed the extras.

The Sinaida’s try sealed the duel for Kenya with a try to win and set up Argentina in the semi-finals scheduled for Sunday. 

The Lionesses had lost to Czech 12-10 in the pool stages.

Kenya Lionesses reached the quarter-finals of the women’s series when they mauled Mexico 40-0 in their last pool match to tie with China at the top with seven points each. 

However, Kenya took the pool victory on better aggregate after having edged out China 17-12.

Regional neighbours Uganda also advanced to the women’s semi-final after stunning Belgium 17-12 in the quarters. They will now meet China, who stopped Poland 31-10 in the quarter-final duel, at 11.53am on Sunday.

Lionesses head coach Dennis “Ironman” Mwanja hailed his charges for their fighting spirit and rising to the occasion when it really mattered. 

“It’s a knockout duel that we had to win after losing to them by two points in the group stage,” Mwanja noted, adding that they worked on their errors, especially the kicking. “These are matches where small margins make a difference.”

They might have achieved their target of reaching the semi-finals but Mwanja wants his girls to go all the way.

“What really motivated them to raise their game was the absence of Christabel Lindo, who was red carded and injured Sharon Auma, who is super on the wings,” said Mwanja.

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