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Shujaa and Lionesses have now guaranteed themselves top four places at the first leg of the ongoing Challenger Series with wins in the quarter-finals.
Both the Shujaa and Lionesses are officially through to the semi-finals in the first leg of the 2024 Challenger Series in Dubai with 21-19 and 22-12 victories over Japan and Czechia respectively.
Shujaa managed to persevere with six men in the closing stages after Festus Siashi was dismissed for an infringement to get the victory, while the Lionesses showed grit and fight to come back from losing positions twice.
Shujaa 22-19 Japan
Japan drew first blood when they capitalised on a handling error by Patrick Odongo on the right wing before they snatched possession and then scored an unconverted try.
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20:36 - 25.11.2023
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Kenya soon equalised afterwards with a well-converted try thanks to a kick and chase of the ball by Nigel Amaitsa who went on to land the try to give them the lead.
The lead would not last long after the Kenyans failed to deal well with a penalty awarded against them, giving Japan a 12-5 lead at the break.
A well-taken individual try by Samwel Asati who smartly made a diagonal run with the ball before running with it past the tryline was converted well by Tony Omondi to give them a 14-12 lead which left the game edgy with just over 2 minutes left of play.
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16:00 - 26.11.2023
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Patrick Odongo then showed why he has been earning a lot of rave reviews when he danced through the defence again with his pace to land yet another well-converted try to put the Kenyans 21-12 to the good.
Festus Siashi was dismissed with a red card for an infringement seconds after he had come on, but it was not enough to sufficiently change the outcome of the game, even though Japan did score a try.
Their comeback was enough to give them a place in the semi-final, which had been their target all along.
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14:32 - 23.10.2023
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Lionesses coast past Czechia
In another clash, Kenya women's national sevens rugby team Kenya Lionesses managed to get to the semi-finals of the ongoing Dubai Challenger Series after overcoming Czechia 22-12 on Saturday afternoon.
The Lionesses started badly after Czechia scored the first try after capitalising on the Lionesses’ turnover of possession which was poorly converted.
Naomi Amuguni would restore parity soon afterwards after Grace Okulu had carried the ball well down the left side before passing it well to Amuguni, who had yards of space to sprint and then score a well-converted try.
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06:34 - 24.11.2023
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Kenya had to however persevere in the first half after Sinadia Nyachio was temporarily suspended for a high tackle. However, the team in blue did not take full advantage and by half-time, the Lionesses led 7-5.
In the second half, Czechia took the lead again after tearing through the Kenyan defence with a well converted try, but it did make the Lionesses start playing like women possessed soon after.
They absolutely tore through the Czechia side with three well-taken tries- albeit not converted by Stella Wafula, Amuguni again, and Nyachio to seal a date with Argentina in the semis.
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