Kenya Lionesses kicked off the Kenyan action at the Emirates Invitational 7s at 8:52am when they faced Japan. Trailing 0-14 at the breather, the Lionesses picked themselves up and landed two converted tries in the second half through Stellah Wafula and Captain Philadelphia Orlando with Janet Okello adding the extras. The Japanese got the final say as they landed their third and winning try securing a 19-14 victory over the Lionesses.
The second and third matches saw the ladies end their day one action winless as they lost 5-38 and 7-46 to Canada and USA respectively. Despite the results, the Head Coach Felix Oloo and SnC Coach Samuel Njogu were pleased with the notable improvement from Madrid especially in the set pieces. However, improvement is necessary especially in defense.
The Lionesses have an early morning as they take on Brazil in their fourth fixture at 8:00am followed by France’s second and first teams at 10:34am and 1:52pm respectively.
Collated scores
Japan 19 – Lionesses 14
Canada 38 – Lionesses 5
USA 46 – Lionesses 7
Shujaa on the other hand registered a win, a draw and a loss on day one as they beat Chile 39-7, drew 19-19 with France before a last minute 15-14 loss to Spain sealed their day.
“Today was a mixed bag, we played well but made some simple but critical errors that determined the France and Spain games. But overall, we’re happy with the boys’ performance. Tomorrow we shall have to dig deep to ensure we get our game going from the first half. Focus now shifts to the Canada match which kicks off at 10:12am,” said Innocent Simiyu, Shujaa’s Head Coach.
During the second match against France, Nelson Oyoo suffered a mild concussion and he is on rest but the management will assess him to determine whether he will be ready to play next weekend. “We have good quality wingers; Jacob Ojee and Derrick Keyoga who will get more chances to showcase their talents,” concluded Simiyu.
Collated scores
Shujaa 39 – Chile 7
Shujaa 19 – France 19
Shujaa 14 – Spain 15
In case you missed the action, it was live on this YouTube link. Tomorrow’s live broadcast link will be shared in a subsequent communication.
