Kenya Lionesses fall short as South Africa seal historic Sevens hat-trick

Kenya Lionesses celebrate after finishing second to BOKS of SA in their 2025 Africa Women's 7s Cup against BOKS of SA at RFUEA grounds. Nov 16, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya Lionesses' spirited charge at the 2025 Rugby Africa Women's Sevens in Nairobi ended in heartbreak after they fell 22-0 to defending champions South Africa, who clinched a historic third consecutive title on Sunday at Kasarani.

The Lionesses had lit up the two-day tournament, playing on 15th and 16th with a confident 17-10 semifinal victory over rivals Uganda, but they could not break through South Africa's ruthless defensive wall in the final.

South Africa's triumph completed their golden sweep of 2023, 2024 and 2025, securing them a ticket to the upcoming World Rugby Division 3 Series. Head coach Cecil Afrika, once a star with the men's team in 2019, praised his squad for their togetherness and hunger.

"The players have shown an unbelievable amount of effort, discipline and heart," Afrika said. "The job is not finished. We must be sharper, more clinical and ready for tougher battles ahead. The unity and understanding in this group is what carried us to this trophy, and we believe in what we want to build and achieve."

Afrika added that South Africa will fly to Dubai next week but one for a series of three high-level competitions meant to strengthen their muscles before returning to handle internal qualifiers.

Despite the loss, Kenya walked away with silver after an impressive run that included a 33-12 dispatch of Zimbabwe in the semifinals and a commanding 37-0 win over Ghana in the preliminaries.

Uganda settled for bronze after beating Tunisia 31-12.

South Africa, meanwhile, hammered Madagascar 29-0 in the other semifinal.