Kenya Lionesses head coach Simon Odongo says his squad is looking sharp, motivated, and ready to rise to the challenge as the countdown to the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens (RAW7s2025) gathers pace.

The continental showdown is set for November 15–16 at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi, where Kenya will host eleven other African nations in what promises to be a thrilling two-day display of women’s rugby.

Fresh from their Safari 7s triumph, the Lionesses are in buoyant mood, and Odongo admits that trimming the team to the final 12-woman squad will be a major challenge.

“Going into RAW7s2025, the ladies look sharp. It’s going to be very tough to name the 12-woman squad considering how well they performed at the Safari 7s. All of them are putting their hands up for selection,” Odongo said.

He praised the team’s growing strength in depth, pointing to it as evidence of the steady rise of women’s rugby in Kenya.

“We’ll be missing players like Srella Wafula and Diana Owino, who are in the U.S. High Performance Camp with the Rhino. But that’s a good problem to have it shows growth. The more players we can export abroad, the more we expose and develop talent locally,” he noted.

Kenya has been drawn in Pool B alongside Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, with Odongo stressing the need for focus and tactical discipline.

“We haven’t played Côte d’Ivoire before, so we’ll take one game at a time and focus on being efficient in attack and defence,” he said.

The Lionesses are currently in residential camp, with the final squad set to be announced before the tournament kicks off.

The 12-team competition will feature top African sides including South Africa, Uganda, Tunisia, Zambia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Egypt.

Kenya finished second at last year’s edition in Accra after losing 17–10 to South Africa in the final a result they are determined to overturn on home soil as they chase continental glory.