Kenya Lionesses head coach Dennis Mwanja wants the national team to improve their defensive structure and ball handling after finishing second in the Rugby Africa Women's tournament in Madagascar over the weekend.
Mwanja's charges bounced back from their humiliating 48-0 loss to champions South Africa to thrash Cameroon 52-3 to qualify for the inaugural World Rugby WXV-3 competition later in the year.
The KCB assistant coach said there is room for improvement before the world event.
"Our defensive pattern and structure need to be worked on as well as handling the ball under pressure. We had a couple of dropped balls, mistakes we must correct before heading for the global event,” observed Mwanja.
The former Kenya Sevens internationals said the Lionesses will also need build-up matches ahead of the competition.
"The teams we are going to face are very good and we will need build-up matches to get our systems in place," noted Mwanja.
The Lionesses will face Ireland, Kazakhstan and Italy or Spain from Europe alongside one team from Oceania and another from South America.
Kenya's try scorers against Cameroon were Grace Adhiambo (brace), Nelly Chikombe, Judith Okumu, Stella Wafula, Phoebe Otieno, Terry Ayesa and Sinaida Mokaya.
Adhiambo also kicked over six conversions for Lionesses, who led 19-0 at the break.
"The team displayed great mental resilience and stuck to our structure and game plan throughout the week-long tournament. I know the potential in the team is great," added Mwanja.
Mwanja's focus now shifts to the Olympic qualifiers slated for October in Tunisia.
“A good number of the girls will play in the Sevens tournament. We will start training very soon for the Olympic qualifiers," said Mwanja.
Elsewhere, champions Ofafa Jericho continued with their good form in the Prescott Cup following a 23-11 win over Lenana. James Kaili's side now has two wins from two after a convincing 46-3 win over Nairobi School in the opener.
