Lionesses go down fighting against Argentina

The Kenya Lionesses began their second day at the HSBC SVNS Series in Nairobi with a narrow 5-0 loss to Argentina, leaving the hosts with three defeats from four matches and only one fixture remaining in the competition.

Playing in front of a lively home crowd at the Nyayo National Stadium, the Lionesses produced a determined defensive display in a tense, low scoring encounter where clear scoring chances were limited.

Kenya showed early intent, pressing aggressively and staying compact in defence to frustrate Argentina's attacking rhythm.

The Lionesses committed strongly at the breakdown and maintained disciplined tackling through long defensive spells, forcing their opponents to recycle possession while waiting for turnover opportunities and counterattacking chances.

The decisive moment arrived when Argentina finally found a gap in the Kenyan line to score the only try of the match early in the into match, through Marianela Escalante.

Kenya reacted with urgency, pushing deep into Argentine territory late on and applying sustained pressure in search of an equaliser, but the visitors held firm to secure the narrow win.

Earlier at the same venue, fans were treated to several other fast paced sevens fixtures as teams battled for pool positions, keeping the atmosphere lively throughout the match block and building momentum across the tournament day with South Africa beating China 33-5 and Spain winning 29-21 against Brazil.

For Kenya, attention now shifts fully to their final fixture against Spain at 3.56pm.