LIONESSES TAMED: New Zealand and France dish out harsh lesson to Kenya women's rugby team

The Kenya Lionesses' journey at the Rio Olympics was ended on Saturday after losing their first two opening matches.

The Kenyan girls had a formality match against Spain at 5pm yesterday they will be leaving the Olympics knowing that it was a learning experience as well as a baptism of fire.

The Lionesses could not find any bite in the opening match as they got a reality check at the Deodoro Stadium, with New Zealand showing no mercy in the 52-0 demolition.

It was a very harsh lesson for the Kenyan team, but they were happy to have played in the Olympics and more so when Sevens rugby was making its debut at the games in Brazil.

The girls said they were returning home with many lessons and that next time they would be better prepared to handle big teams like New Zealand and France, where most of the players play the sport full time unlike the Kenyan squad that is semi-professional.

“It was a good experience playing in the Olympics and even though we have lost our opening matches, we believe that next time we will do better and are looking forward to enjoying our next game against Spain,” team captain Catherine Awino said after the second match against France.

The second meeting with France was a much better show by the Lionesses and even though they lost, they seemed to have shaken off their stage fright, which was evident in the opener against the French team.

Celestine Masinde was even able to score a try for Kenya, with Janet Owino converting for the scores to read 40-7.

After the opening day matches on Saturday, Kenya are now last in Pool B with two points, same as Spain. New Zealand are top of the group with six points, same as France, as they both won their opening matches.

After beating Kenya, New Zealand beat Spain 31-5 while France also beat the Spanish 24-7. The match between Kenya and Spain yesterday was therefore to determine who will finish bottom of the group as the two top sides in the group are already assured of passage into the next round.

Focus will now shift to the men's team who will begin their chase for glory tomorrow.

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