The Kenya Lionesses will face Poland in three build matches at the RFUEA grounds on Saturday as the two nations prepare for the Challenger Sevens Series in South Africa in March.
Kenya and Poland are among the frontrunners for the four automatic slots in the 10-team promotion battle.
The Poles arrived on Monday and have had sessions at the Ngong’ Road facility to acclimatise to the sweltering conditions in the capital.
Lionesses coach Dennis ‘Ironman’ Mwanja said playing Poland is an important phase of their preparations for the South African event.
“It’s a team we played last season during the series and (playing them again) will give us a good reading of where we are as a team in several aspects of play. We are relishing the challenge,” said Mwanja.
The former Kenya Sevens international termed the European outfit as skilful and physical and will, therefore, test his charges accordingly.
“They are a solid outfit who play with skills and are very tactical. I believe the matches will be competitive,” he added.
Mwanja has a full squad to choose from for the friendly matches with competition for places in the squad at an all-time high.
“We have had robust training sessions since the year started and the players have put their hands up in training. We are confident of getting good results in the Challenger,” said Mwanja.
The Challenger starts with two tournaments in Cape Town — March 1-2 and March 7-8 — with the top eight men’s and women’s teams progressing to the third and final tournament at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland on April 11-12.
The four teams with the most points across the three Challenger rounds will qualify for the playoffs in Los Angeles on May 3-4.
Here, they will face the bottom four teams from the 2024/25 World Sevens Series in a high-stakes promotion/ relegation tournament in which four teams will qualify for the 2025/26 World Series.
The Challenger Series will also
feature Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hong
Kong, Mexico Samoa, South Africa,
Thailand and Uganda.
