Lionesses keen on positive show in Dubai

Kenya Lioness Janet Owino training at RFUEA Grounds [Courtesy] 

The Africa Women's Sevens champions face New Zealand's Black Ferns, Ireland and Russia in the preliminaries.

National women's Sevens coach Kevin Wambua is braced for physical encounters as the second leg of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series kicks off today in Dubai.

Lionesses, a non-core side, was invited to the tournament following their Cup triumph at the 2018 Africa Women's Sevens in Botswana, in May.

The Philadelphia Olando-captained side will play New Zealand, Ireland and Russia in pool A and Wambua is prepared for a demanding assignment. 

"We shall face very physical teams and that is why we have really been working extra hard on our conditioning and just building our strength and endurance," Wambua told The Standard Sports before the team travelled to Dubai.

While laying bare his intentions of leading the side to the knock-out phase, the trainer said he has no problem with the Kenyan ladies carrying the underdogs tag.

"Of course we are the underdogs in the pool and I expect all teams to come hard at us. We just want to approach a game at a time," Wambua said.

The women's Sevens Series kicked off last month with the newly introduced Glendale Sevens in Colorado, USA. New Zealand's Black Ferns won the opening tournament.

"We know for a fact that our opponents are more exposed and they have better players. However, we should not be written off because we have had a good year and we have been doing quite well as far as building team chemistry is concerned. We are seeking to beat one or two teams in the tournament," Wambua said.

Having watched Ireland and Russia at the Glendale tournament, the coach is optimistic of competing favourably against the two nations.

"I watched them at the Glendale Sevens last month and I know we can give a good performance in those two matches," said Wambua.

"The results won't really matter if we can give a hundred per cent effort. I hope we can bag a win or two on the first day and make it to the quarters. The most important thing is to give these girls a chance to play at the world stage, build on their confidence and experience."

Meanwhile, the national 15s team's free fall in the World Rugby rankings continues as a result of their underwhelming outing at the 2019 Rugby World Cup Repechage.

According to the latest rankings, the Simbas, who occupied position 28 prior to the three-week 2019 World Cup qualifier in France, have plummeted further from position 30 to 32.