Kenya Lionesses faced another heartbreak in the Women’s Africa 7s Cup final, falling 19-10 to South Africa, forfeiting the continental title but securing qualification to the 2024/25 World Rugby 7s Challenger Series.

Lionesses’ loss in the 12-team competition was unexpected, especially given a crucial one-player advantage for a total of four minutes during the cup final.

The tournament, held at the University of Ghana, was a repeat of the 2023 final where Kenya lost 12-7, missing out on the sole ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games where only one African team participated.

In the final, the Lionesses had a four-minute overlap advantage due to two sin-bin penalties for South Africa.

Kenya started strong against their unbeaten opponents, capitalizing on a penalty deep in South Africa’s territory as winger Stella Wafula scored the opening try.

South Africa, however, remained composed and equalized through Malinga Ayanda, leveling the score at 5-5.

Despite the overlap created by a South African sin-bin for a high tackle, Kenya couldn’t capitalize, leaving the scores tied at 5-5 at halftime.

Lionesses took the lead again early in the second half, as Sinaida Nyachio set up Sharon Auma for a try, bringing the score to a brief 10-5 advantage.

However, Kenya’s defense was caught off-guard by a dummy from Zintle Mpupha, who assisted Felicia Jacobs in scoring under the posts.

A successful conversion gave South Africa their first lead of the match, which they maintained even after Mpupha received a second yellow card.

In a rushed attempt to take advantage of the extra player, the Lionesses lost possession and were punished with a third try. Mpupha, back from the sin-bin, set up the final try to seal the game 19-10.

In other matches, Uganda redeemed themselves from a semifinal loss to Kenya by defeating Madagascar 17-5 to finish third, joining South Africa and Kenya in qualifying for the upcoming World Challenger Series.