Woeful Kenya Lionesses miss World Cup, Commonwealth Games tickets

Kenya Lionesses

Kenya Lionesses players hurdle before the captain's run on April 28, 2022 on the eve of the Africa Women's Sevens in Jemmal, Tunisia.

Photo credit: Pool | KRU

What you need to know:

  • The Lionesses, who had reached the final in the last six Africa Women’s Sevens, grabbed their consolation try through skipper Janet Okello.  

Kenya has been knocked out of the race for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens and Commonwealth Games after losing 19-5 to Tunisia at the quarter-final stage of the Africa Women’s Sevens in Jemmal on Saturday.

The Lionesses, who had reached the final in the last six Africa Women’s Sevens, grabbed their consolation try through skipper Janet Okello.  

Tunisia piled pressure from the word go and got on the scoreboard through Ameni Ben Salem in the second minute. Okello, who plays for MIE Pearls club in Japan, reduced the arrears just before the break with an unconverted try at the corner.

However, the 2018 African queens had no answers for Tunisia in the second stanza as they conceded two tries from Mariem Mekni and S. Lahwal.  

South Africa won the first quarter-final 17-5 against an improved Ghana side who at one point were within five points of reach at 10-5.

Madagascar were made to sweat for a place in the semi-finals with a narrow 12-10 victory over Zambia.

Uganda, who set social media ablaze after stunning Kenya 10-7 at the group stage, defeated Zimbabwe to sail into the last four.

The winner of the African competition will enter the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England slated for July 28 to August 8.

One ticket is also on offer for the World Cup Sevens to be held in South Africa on September 9-11.

South Africa have already qualified as hosts for the World Cup, so one more team from the nine-nation competition will also punch their ticket for the prestigious event.