Kenya Lionesses bounced back to winning ways, picking a 12-7 over Colombia in the final Pool match played in Krakow, in Poland.
The match ended with no tries, but Lionesses went on to turn matters around in the second half, landing two successive tries in the final half for a win.
Following the opening pool games of the tournament, Argentina, Kenya and South Africa Women and Canada, Germany and Portugal men’s teams progressed to the Play-Off after finishing with the most cumulative points from across the three rounds of the Challenger, ensuring they could not be caught.
In the women’s Pools, Kenya got off to a flying start in their opening game securing a win against Belgium and their ticket to Los Angeles. It took until the second round for Argentina and South Africa to claim their place.
A passionate display from hosts Poland saw them close to denying The Las Yaguaretes qualification with two tries straight out of the gate but Argentina were able to shift the momentum with four tries in quick concession, sealing the win and seeing them through to the Play-Offs.
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They will be joined by Springbok Women who ended the second round in style with seven tries against Czechia.
Grace Okulu commented after securing qualification: “It has been really amazing. The girls have worked really hard. We fell short last year and it was very painful but now that we have secured our way to LA, it really means a lot to us.”
Three play-off places were also secured in the men’s Pools for Canada, Germany and Portugal. Canada were able to take the edge in a closely contested match against Madagascar in their opener and continued their winning streak with two comfortable wins against Japan and Portugal.
Although Portugal were pipped by Canada in their final showdown of the day, they had already sealed their fate for the Play-Offs with two encouraging wins against Japan and Madagascar in the opening two rounds.
Portugal’s Captain Fabio Conceicao reflected following the win against Madagascar saying: “The feeling is amazing. We won this game and we are going to LA and fighting for the series next season. The next goal is to finish in the top four and go on to win the tournament here in Krakow.”
Germany’s final game of the day saw them scoop their place with a valiant win over Chile. The two final spots will be up for grabs in the final day of the tournament in Krakow which takes place on Saturday 12 April.
