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Kenya Lionesses 15s team suffered a 48-0 rout to arch-rivals South Africa in their second fixture of the Rugby Africa Women’s First Division Cup to surrender one of the two slots to the World 15s tier 2 competition. The Lionesses must beat Cameroon on the 28th to bag the final slot in the third tier of the women’s global competition.

The continental competition, hosted by Madagascar in Antananarivo, heads to the final decisive round with Lionesses perched at second place behind South Africa – who are top-seeded for the sole slot to the second tier of the newly launched World Rugby WXV.

The runner-up will qualify for the third tier of the World Rugby WXV competition. The World 15s competitions are intended to revolutionize the women’s international rugby landscape, providing for the first time a meaningful pathway for all unions and a competitive springboard.

Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja was most concerned with the team’s relapse in the first half. He offered: “We gave away very easy tries in that first half. The experience of South Africa, going for the World Cup and the European Tour, clearly made them a different level than us. We believe the build-up matches would have really made a big difference for us.”