Lionesses coach reveals how he plans to bring down heavyweights South Africa

Kenya Lionesses coach Dennis Mwanja believes denying South Africa possession and winning most duels is the only way to beat them during their meeting at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup first division tournament in Madagascar on Wednesday.

Lionesses are looking for their second straight win after, opening their campaign with a 29-20 victory against hosts Madagascar last Saturday, but they come up against a formidable opponent who thrashed Cameroon 87-0 in their opener.

Kenya do not have good memories of South Africa who have asserted their dominance over them in recent years. Their last meeting was in August 2021 when the South Africans won two test matches in Stellenbosch, winning the opening fixture 66-0 before, scoring a last gasp try to claim the second game 29-22.

Informed by this, Mwanja wants his charges to be on high alert, having been forced to make one change to the Lionesses starting lineup, with Enid Ouma replacing Phoebe Akinyi in the backrow.

“The South Africa game will be more physical, more tactical,” Mwanja said in Madagascar, as per KRU Media. “I’ve watched them play…they are very good in spreading the ball wide and also very good in defending. Denying them possession and contesting everything they put will give us an edge.”

Akinyi did not win the fitness race after getting injured in the dying moments of Saturday’s encounter and with Ouma in the starting XV, Hellen Anyango will take up her place on the bench.

The winner of this tournament will qualify for the second tier of the newly-launched World Rugby WXV with the runner up qualifying for the third tier of the same competition which is intended to revolutionize the women’s international rugby landscape, providing for the first time a meaningful pathway for all unions and a competitive springboard towards an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup in 2025.