The Kenya national women’s rugby team Kenya Lionesses are slowly but surely building a legacy whose effects are bound to cause ripples in the women’s game. The tenacity of the players and technical bench who have resolved to keep moving despite many hurdles such as delayed payment of allowances is admirable. 

Already, Kenya Lionesses clinched a historical World Rugby Challenger Series title, played at the Olympics and last week finished second to South Africa in the Rugby Africa Women’s cup competition that ended in Antananarivo, Madagascar on June 15, 2025.

To put this into perspective, the men’s team finished fourth last year in a similar competition held in Kampala Uganda. In Madagascar, rivals South Africa who had eight players from the last women’s World Cup were wary of the inclusion of 7’s players in the squad.

Narrow Lead

As predicted, South Africa narrowly led 12-0 at half time but the Lionesses fought back to score 12 points in the second half losing 12-19. Franzel September, the South Africa coach admitted the match against Kenya was the toughest after comfortably beating Uganda 62-7 in their opening match and Madagascar 61-17 in a formality match against hosts Madagascar.

In Madagascar, Kenya Lionesses had opened their account by beating hosts Madagascar 28-5 while South Africa overran Uganda 62-7.

Bounced Back

On Match day two, Kenya lost 12-19 to South Africa while Uganda bounced back to narrowly beat 24-20 in a match that Charles Onen, the coach said was very tough because of the unpredictability of the hosts, Madagascar.

The win set up a date with neighbors Kenya in their last match. What promised to be a nail-biting derby turned into a one-sided match with Kenya winning 47-0. Next month, the men’s competition which will also double up as a Rugby World Cup qualifier takes the center stage. The women’s team face a long lull before their next assignment.

Rugby Africa Women’s Cup, 2025 results

June 7: South Africa 62 Uganda 7, Kenya 28 Madagascar 5.

June 11: South Africa 19 Kenya 12, Uganda 24 Madagascar 20.

June 15: Kenya 47 Uganda, South Africa 61 Madagascar 17.