Kenya Lionesses bow out after two opening losses

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Kenya Lionesses have been eliminated from the Commonwealth Games after losing two opening Group A matches at Roniba Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia, yesterday.

Kevin Wambua’s charges made a false start at the inaugural women’s rugby tournament after suffering a humiliating 45-0 defeat to fancied New Zealand in the first match before losing 24-12 to Canada.

The New Zealanders were in a class of their own with the duo of World Rugby Sevens Series all-time top try scorer Portia Woodman and Niall Williams tearing the Kenyans’ defence apart.

Woodman grounded a hat-trick of tries as Williams touched down twice to inspire the 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medalists to an emphatic victory.

Bianca Farella was the hero for Canada scoring a brace in the second match against Kenya with Hannah Darling and Julia Greenshields grounding a try each converted by Breanne Nicholas.

Though frustrated, coach Kevin Wambua admitted that his players were nervous in both matches.

 “All I can say is that possession cost us a lot in the games. We really lacked possession as we wanted. There was no possession.

They made us work hard on the defence and took our chances. But going into the next matches, we need to focus on possession. We must get the ball first before we can play,” said Wambua.

“There was a lot of tension before the games started.”