Clubs from nine nations will come together for one of the biggest weekends of rugby sevens in Africa as the 2026 Safari Sevens kicks off this weekend.
Six women’s and 12 men’s teams will compete over the weekend, with several international teams also taking part at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
First contested in 1996, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark sevens tournament, and this weekend marks the 28th iteration of the tournament after no events were held in 2017 and during the COVID pandemic.
It has since returned with a vengeance, recognized as a key tournament in the sevens calendar – and with the hosts now using the event as preparation for their HSBC SVNS World Cup, this weekend will be critical in the wider African sevens landscape.
On the women’s front, three of the six teams will be local teams Kenya The Lionesses, Junior Lionesses and their development side, the Kenya Cubs, will welcome the likes of Uganda and Tunisia women’s sevens in Nairobi.
The final team to join the women’s competition will be South Africa’s Tuks Women, who expect to be the dark horse of the tournament, but the defending champions Lionesses will not take it lightly.
The Lionesses and Tunisia also trained together ahead of the tournament, playing several warm-up games in preparation.
“We did everything right,” Lioness skipper Sheila Chajira told The Standard.
“We are ready. We are ready to compete, we are very confident that we will keep the trophy this year.
“We played a few games against Tunisia to assess ourselves and I can say we are in shape; even the new inclusions in the team give the team value for money.”
Meanwhile, the men’s tournament is set to be split into three groups of four, with international invitational Shogun playing French Renegades, Southern California Nomads and Wellington Jaguars from New Zealand.
Kenya will field two home teams of their own, with the Kenya Morans secondary team competing against Africa Weeks 2026 champions Zimbabwe, the Gel Squad 7s from South Africa and another French invitational side, the Wonder 7s in Group C.
The Kenyan national team, Shujaa, who recently won the Mauritius 2026 African Men’s Sevens Sevens match last weekend, will play against Uganda, the Fast Forward 7 representative team from South Africa and Scotland Representation of the week in group A.
Shujaa will be looking to defend their 2025 crown but will be challenged by Uganda, who finished as runners-up in their opening game of the 2026 African Men’s Seven Weeks series in Kampala.
Then there is Scotland, who will bring a team Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors Academy prospects and members of the Scottish Thistles who competed at the Melrose Sevens earlier this year, captained by senior international Ross McCann.
“We’ve got a good mix of club, National Talent Pathway, Academy and professional players in our squad for our trip to Kenya, which is exactly what it’s all about,” head coach Ciaran Beattie told Scotland Rugby News.
“Struan White is an exciting young player coming through the club game, much like Murray Waugh from the NTP side, and we’re really excited to see them carry Thistle on the international stage.
“A lot of academy selections have come on suddenly in the last few weeks with us, or over the last year through various selection camps and engagements.
“We are really looking forward to seeing how he will mix with our professional core and fight for a positive weekend in Nairobi, Kenya.”
The tournament will be held from 9 to 11 October 2026 at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
2026 SAFARI SEVENS POOLS
MEN’S TOURNAMENT
POOL A: Kenja Shujaa, Uganda, Fast Forward 7s, Scotland
POOL B: Shogun, French Renegades, Southern California Nomads, Wellington Jaguars
POOL C: Kenya Morans, Zimbabwe, Gel Squads 7s, Wonder 7s
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT:
TEAMS: Kenya Lionesses, Uganda, Kenya Cubs, Tunisia, Tuks Women, Junior Lionesses
