Kenya Lionesses' coach Dennis Mwanja is seeking improvement ahead of next month's Olympic repechage in Monaco.
Over the weekend, the Sevens outfit finished fifth overall at the Challenger Seven Series in Krakow, Poland, to miss out on an automatic slot in the World Sevens Series promotion tournament in Madrid, Spain, early next month.
Speaking from Miramas, France, where the team have been on a one-week training camp courtesy of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), Mwanja said there was tremendous improvement compared to the disastrous performance in Montevideo, Uruguay, in March.
“Our performance was much better. The girls played smart intelligent rugby but our defensive alignment needs to be better and our attack can get sharper as we head to Monaco,” said Mwanja.
In Poland, Mwanja's charges beat hosts Poland 21-19 and fell 22-0 to Belgium before bouncing back to beat Mexico 29-7 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the last eight, they stunned Argentina 22-5 to book their spot in the semifinals where they came up short, losing 21-15 to Poland.
The Lionesses were no match for Belgium in the bronze medal match, losing 26-7.
Mwanja, a former Kenya Sevens international was optimistic about their chances in the repechage, where Kenya face Argentina, Papua New Guinea and Manu Samoa.
"From the performance we displayed in Poland, our chances look good. The girls are relishing the challenge. They will fight until the last minute and we are looking forward to the tournament," he said.
The KCB assistant coach said competition for places in the squad is high after the sterling performances by Freshia Oduor and Edith Nairaka.
"The girls played well. It makes our job as the technical bench even harder to pick the final 13 for Monaco," said Mwanja.
The team returns on Saturday.
Uganda’s Lady Cranes are in Pool 'B' alongside Hong Kong China, Paraguay and Jamaica.
China, Poland, the Czech Republic and Mexico are in Pool 'C'.
The tournament winners will automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
