Kenya’s Junior Lionesses are the Youth Olympics Rugby 7s champions after securing a dramatic 17-12 sudden-death victory over Australia in the final played in Dakar, Senegal.

It was sweet revenge for Kenya, who bounced back from their 17-5 defeat to Australia in the pool stage to claim the ultimate prize and be crowned champions.

A miscued kick-off proved costly for Kenya as Australia capitalised on the opportunity to score the opening try and take a 5-0 lead.

However, the Lionesses’ first visit into Australia’s half yielded immediate results, with Zain Hido reacting quickly off a ruck to dive over for Kenya’s opening try and level the scores at 5-5 heading into half-time.

Kenya enjoyed more possession after the restart and came close to taking the lead, but Mitchell Abuga was stopped just short of the try line.

Australia then demonstrated their attacking threat, launching an attack from their own 22 before an inside pass breached the Kenyan defence. The Australians finished the move with a try under the posts to take a 12-5 lead.

The Lionesses refused to surrender and mounted a late comeback, enjoying possession in the closing stages. Their task was made easier when Australia received a yellow card with just 25 seconds remaining.

Kenya patiently built their attack, and Josephine Kerubo eventually crossed the try line to reduce the deficit before the successful conversion levelled the scores at 12-12, forcing the final into extra time.

Australia’s hopes of securing the title suffered an immediate setback when they knocked on from the kick-off in sudden death. Kenya recovered possession and launched the decisive attack, with Mitchell Chemtai crossing the try line to seal a memorable 17-12 victory and send the Junior Lionesses into celebration.