It was a day of mixed fortunes for hosts Kenya Shujaa and Kenya Lionesses at the HSBC SVNS 2 tournament at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Saturday, with the men’s team finishing unbeaten while the women posted a win and two narrow defeats.

Shujaa completed the first day with a perfect record, sweeping aside Canada, Belgium and Germany in front of a sold-out home crowd. The six-team men’s and women’s tournament is being played in a round-robin format.

Kevin Wambua’s charges opened their campaign with a 29-12 victory over Canada. Patrick Odongo and Nygel Amaitsa each grabbed two tries, while Chrisant Ojwang and Festus Shiasi also crossed the whitewash. Ojwang set up Odongo for the opening try before capitalising on a loose ball to hand Kenya a 12-0 lead. Amaitsa then released Odongo for his second as Shujaa stretched the score to 17-0.

Canada fought back through Morgan Di Nardo before the break, and Kalin Sager added another early in the second half to reduce the deficit to 17-12. However, Kenya remained composed. Amaitsa sold a clever dummy to race under the posts, and substitute Shiasi sealed the win with a strong finish in the corner.

Shujaa were even more dominant in their second outing, thrashing Belgium 33-0. Tries from Asati, Ojwang, Vincent Onyala, Odongo and Floyd Wabwire underlined Kenya’s superiority as they kept a clean sheet.

Their toughest test came against Germany, with both sides entering the clash unbeaten. Germany led 10-0 at halftime courtesy of unconverted tries from B. Ellermann and F. Hufnagel. Kenya responded in the second half with quick-fire tries from Amaitsa and Odongo to level at 10-10, forcing sudden death. After resolute defending from Kevin Wekesa and Odongo, Shiasi burst through the German defence to score the decisive try in a dramatic 15-10 victory.

Germany had earlier rallied from 14-0 down to edge Uruguay 19-14 before beating Canada 26-17. The USA also impressed, hammering Belgium 40-0, defeating Uruguay and finishing the day with a commanding 41-7 win over Canada.

In the women’s competition, the Kenya Lionesses experienced mixed results. They began with a spirited 15-12 comeback win over Brazil. After trailing 12-5, tries from Janet Okello, Stella Wafula and Naomi Amuguni secured victory for Simon Odongo’s side.

However, the Lionesses fell 15-12 to China in their second match after conceding three first-half tries to trail 15-0 at the break. Despite a strong second-half fightback with tries from Freshia Oduor and France-based Grace Okulu, the Lionesses narrowly missed out. Their final match of the day also ended in heartbreak, with Africa champions South Africa edging them 12-10 in another tightly contested encounter. Capitain Sheila Chajira and  debutante Laura Oswago scored for Lionesses against South Africa.

Shujaa will conclude their first-round fixtures on Sunday against Uruguay and USA, while the Lionesses are set to face Spain and Argentina.

The Nairobi leg marks the opening stop of the three-leg series, with Montevideo, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, Brazil scheduled to host the remaining rounds.