Kenya Lionesses claimed silver at the 2025 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup with a commanding 49-0 victory over Uganda’s Lady Cranes at Stade Makis in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Sunday.
The emphatic win sealed second place for Kenya behind reigning champions and World Cup-bound South Africa, who retained their title with a 61-17 rout of hosts Madagascar.
Uganda finished third, while Madagascar came fourth. Notably, there will be no relegation from the top tier this year, allowing Madagascar’s Makis to remain in the elite division despite failing to secure a win.
Kenya’s forwards coach Dennis Mwanja singled out flanker Faith Livoi for praise, highlighting her pivotal role in the shutout.
“Livoi was outstanding. She broke the line several times and posed a constant threat to Uganda’s defence,” Mwanja noted.
Livoi was among eight different try scorers for Kenya, who took control of the match after a measured opening.
Despite having thrashed Uganda 87-3 in the 2023 Elgon Cup, it took the Lionesses 19 minutes to open the scoring, with Natasha Emali dotting down following a dominant scrum.
Uganda had a chance to respond in the 27th minute, but Janat Nandudu’s penalty attempt went wide. Kenya took full advantage of a yellow card to Grace Nabaggala, adding three more tries before halftime through Sheila Chajira, Livoi, and Noleen Khaleyi to lead 20-0 at the break.
Uganda missed another penalty early in the second half before Kenya extended their lead with a penalty try.
Naomi Amuguni then crossed from a quick tap, with Grace Okulu adding the conversion to make it 34-0.
In the final stages, Stellah Wafula scored twice, sandwiching a fluid team try finished by Edith Nariaka. Okulu capped the performance with a final conversion to seal the 49-0 triumph.
Reflecting on the performance, Mwanja praised the team’s adaptability under challenging conditions.
“We started a bit slow… it was extremely windy inside the stadium,” he said. “But once we went wide and played expansively, that gave us the edge.”
Lionesses celebrating the victory.
The Lionesses concluded the tournament with 11 points from two wins—28-5 over Madagascar and 49-0 against Uganda—alongside a narrow 19-12 defeat to champions South Africa, who finished with 14 points. Uganda (5 points) and Madagascar (1 point) rounded out the standings.
While the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup serves as a qualification pathway to World Rugby’s WXV Tier 2 and 3 competitions, Mwanja noted that Kenya is still awaiting confirmation regarding a potential spot in WXV3.
