Mwanja taking a cautious approach as event starts

Kenya Lionesses players in a past match at Nyayo Stadium. [KRU]

Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja says he is taking a cautious approach to this weekend's World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Santiago, Chile.

Lionesses, who are in Group D, were due to face China in their opening match last night (9.01pm) before taking on their continental rivals South Africa at 2.37am.

Kenya will wrap up their group matches with a clash against hosts Chile today at 5.34pm.

With both the men's and women's winners will earning the prize of promotion to the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series, the Shujaa legend believes his squad has what it takes to lift the title in the three-day tournament.

"It is not beyond our capabilities to qualify but that will take a lot of growing up, there is no magic wand that can be waved to get instant results," Mwanja told KRU media.
"It is about the input as well, these girls don't have many tournaments to play, they don't have a lot of exposure. Making it to the knockouts will be good for us but what is important is taking it a game at a time."

He continued: "As mentioned earlier, the team is rebuilding. This rebuilding team is a team that has to first of all get that confidence in high level competitions. Once they get their confidence going, then we can be able to challenge all other teams.

"The team arrived well, after a 25 hour flight...eight and half hours to Paris, a three hour layover followed by a twelve and a half hour flight to Lima, Peru before our final three and a half hour flight to Chile. We have had a training and gym session to shake off the fatigue. The girls are adapting to this weather, the temperatures are in the range of 16 to 20 degrees celsius." [