Kenyan Rugby team Lionesses are the champions of the Cape Town Seven Challenger after edging Argentina 17- 12 in the finals on Sunday, March 3, 2025.

Heading to the series in South Africa, Kenya landed in Group D alongside familiar but formidable foes in Poland and Samoa.

Dennis Mwanja’s charges, who debuted their new white and green Kit for the challenger, got off to a dream start with a dominant 29-7 win over Poland.

The side then capped off their group performance by downing Samoa 20-5, setting up the thrilling all-African semi-final clash against South Africa.

 The semi-final tie proved a tough ask for the ladies’ side who needed a comeback win from 10- 0 down to claim their place in the challenger series final.

Champions! 🏆@OfficialKRU take home the first title of the #7sChallengerSeries 🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/rsuh2VDdX4

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) March 2, 2025

The Bok Women got drew the first blood and opened up the Kenyan defence with Nadine Roos and Maria Tshiremba scoring for a 10-0 lead.

A rattled Lionesses took the cue well and defied a numerical disadvantage to hit back with a try between the posts.

Following a successful conversion, the Kenyan ladies then gained possession back from the restart and scored again for a 14-10 advantage at the break.
With the tie heading to a tense final moments, Freshia Oduor claimed the much-needed try against South Africa to send the Lionesses to the final.

The result saw the ladies avenge the 2024 19-10 defeat to South Africa in the 2024 Africa 7s Women’s Tournament in Ghana.

In the final against Argentina, captain Grace Okulu’s influence and a double try from an impressive Judith Okumu capped a perfect campaign as the Lionesses stormed to a 17- 12 victory and in the process secured the trophy.

Lionesses now focus on extending the fine start and securing a berth among the best eight teams in the second challenger series at the same venue of Athlone Stadium.

The final and third round of the series will be headed to Krakow Poland where the top eight teams advance to play off phase in Los Angeles in May.