mens
Sevens
Kenya scored a big win as they chased qualification for the HSBC SVNS Series, winning the Mauritius Week 2026 title in Cascaville on the first weekend of October.
Facing considerable competition, Shujaa defeated the 2025 champions Madagascar 15-12, and the match went to extra time to find the winner.
The defending champions started the final with a try from Jean Marc Raoelinirini’s corner, but the Kenyans hit back with tries from Gabriel Ayimba and Ray Ambale to take the lead.
However, Rado Randrianalison scored a valuable second try for the Madagascans, with the score 12-all at the end.
However, the 2025 champions, the only side in the men’s tournament unbeaten before the final, struggled with their discipline and Glacious Nganya converted a last-minute penalty in extra time to give Shujao a crucial three-point lead that would have been enough.
South Africa won third place in the men’s competition, defeating Burkina Faso 24-14, but the rainbow nation would do better in the women’s competition, representative Tuks Women beat hosts Mauritius 22-10 in the women’s final.
In a promising result for the women’s game, Morocco finished with the bronze medal, defeating Reunion 21-0 in the play-off for third place.
In other results, the Reunion men’s side claimed victories over Mauritius and Namibia, while the hosts also had a strong tournament in both the men’s and women’s games, the former beating Egypt and Reunion in the play-offs, while the latter reached the women’s grand final.
The day, however, belonged to the Kenyans, who thrashed the world champions Blitzboks 15-0 in the semi-finals to reach the final – a result that shows huge promise as the Shujaa have one eye on qualifying for the 2026-27 SVNS Series.
Currently locked in the SVNS 2 tier of the tournament, Kenya qualified for the SVNS World Championship earlier this year, nearly upsetting the Blitzboks at the Hong Kong Sevens before losing in the quarter-finals 26-22.
However, despite strong form in Hong Kong and Valladolid, Shujaa fell at the final hurdle in Bordeaux, finishing eleventh in the standings, with the United States finishing one competition point above them to qualify for the 2026-27 SVNS Series.
The result in Cascaville will serve as a valuable pre-season step towards qualification for Shujaa, as well as South Africa’s women’s sevens program with a win for Tuks Women, the Blazeboks also qualified for the SVNS World Championship last year after moving up from SVNS 3.
The women’s team finished last at the World Cup, however it proved to be a year of huge growth as momentum around the women’s side of the game in South Africa continues to grow.
Both Shujaa and Tuks Women will now head to Nairobi for the Safari Sevens this weekend, with the result on the 30th anniversary of the tournament significant in both sides’ seasons.
Tuks Women are expected to face significant opposition in Tunisia, Uganda and three clubs from Kenya’s national program, while Shujaa will be up against recent SVNS 3 qualifiers in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Scottish national sevens.
