Eight Teams, Eight Dreams, One Prize: World Rugby HSBC SVNS 3 Africa Qualifiers Set For Kampala Showdown

Eight nations arrive in Kampala with one goal: winning the World Rugby HSBC SVNS3 Africa Qualifiers and securing Africa’s place in the 2027 World Rugby HSBC SVNS 3.(Match Schedule, tickets, copyright free images, fixtures and streaming information below)

Image: Captains from the eight participating teams: Morocco’s Adil Achahbar, Ghana’s Frances Kweku Mensah Donkor (representative for captain), Zambia’s Isreal Kalumba, Zimbabwe’s Tapiwa Malenga, Uganda’s Ian Munyani, Nigeria’s Oghenesuvwe Obano, Tunisia’s Zied Hadj Rhouma and Senegal’s Sy Abou.

KAMPALA, Uganda – Hosting memorable international tournaments in Africa has become second nature to Uganda in recent years, and this weekend the rugby world will once again witness another event to behold in Kampala.

The World Rugby SVNS3 Africa Qualifiers at the iconic Kyadondo Rugby Grounds in the Ugandan capital will bring together eight nations, with only one of them, the team crowned champions on Sunday, securing Africa’s place in the 2027 World Rugby HSBC SVNS 3.

Hosts Uganda, buoyed by partisan home fans, will undoubtedly start as one of the tournament favourites.

Apart from home advantage, Uganda head coach Allan Atim is banking on the team’s eagerness, as well as an exciting mix of youth and experience in his squad.

“The boys have been in camp since February and they have been putting in the work,” Atim told local press in Kampala this week.

“Camp is in high spirit, the energies are good, and we expect to have a good tournament here at Kyadondo. The chemistry is coming through, we’ve played three tournaments as build-up, to see how best we can connect the younger and older players. In all these three tournaments, we’ve seen how they’ve blended. We are using the advantages of each player, what they bring to the table.”

The Ugandans have been drawn in Pool B with Zambia, Tunisia and Senegal. They are likely to face their toughest competition in the group from Zambia, whose head coach Andrew Kaminsa is well aware of the massive challenge in front of his team.

“We have a very good chance of finishing in the top two,” Kaminsa told Zambia media in Lusaka before departure. “We’ve played most of the teams in our group before, and we haven’t lost to them. Obviously, our challenge will be Uganda. It’s always a tough game when we play Uganda, but nevertheless, that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them.”

But never underestimate Tunisia and Senegal in that pool. The Senegalese were one of the earliest teams to arrive in Kampala, touching down at Entebbe International Airport in high spirits on Wednesday afternoon.

“We have achieved a lot of good results in recent times,” said Senegal captain Sy Abou on arrival.

“We definitely hope to qualify, Inshallah. We are facing very good teams in our group, but we are ready for them.”

Tunisia, too, will not be pushovers. Their captain, Zied Rhouma, spoke of the team’s tournament goals upon arrival in Uganda.

“The preparations were good,” said Rhouma.

“We have such a young and motivated team, we have five players from the Under-20 team, and we are looking forward to representing our county in a good way, and we will play every game like a final.”

In Pool A, Zimbabwe have arrived in Kampala not just as one of the favourites to top their group, but also with a good chance of challenging throughout the tournament.

The Zimbabwean side is a blend of seasoned players and newcomers, and the Southern Africans have new coaching staff who will be keen to make an early impression.

They have also brought to Kampala two players from the country’s high-riding 15s team – Dion Khumalo and Trevor Gurwe – who were part of Zimbabwe’s back-to-back Rugby Africa Cup titles in 2024 and 2025 and qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

“Obviously, for a lot of these boys, it’s new coaches, new philosophies, so there’s always a transition time you have to allow,” new assistant coach Tinashe Shamu told Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper.

“When new people come in, we all have our different philosophies, so we are just trying to get our philosophy onto them so that we can progress forward.”

One of the teams to watch in this tournament is Nigeria. While rugby is still in the development stages in Nigeria, Sevens rugby suits the vast West African country due to the natural athleticism of its people. The Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) has therefore been using this format of the game as an entry point for the sport in the country.

Nigeria has also tapped into foreign-born players of Nigerian heritage who learnt and grew up playing the game in some of the world’s major rugby-playing nations.

NRFF president Ademola Are acknowledges the impact that Sevens can make on rugby in his country, at the Kampala tournament and beyond.

“We expect to continue the steady progress we have been making with Nigerian Sevens,” Are told the Nigerian press last week.

“We respect the quality of the teams in Uganda and know it will be a very competitive tournament, but we are going there well prepared and determined to do well.”

Nigeria’s fellow West Africans, Ghana, are no less ambitious heading into this weekend’s all-important tournament.

The naturally gifted Ghanaians, too, understand that the shorter version of rugby reduces the gap between nations and gives them a better chance to compete with the rest.

“We’ve prepared really well for this tournament, we now know what we’ve come to do,” Ghana representative Francis Dankor said after arrival.

“We really want to qualify, and we are here to achieve it.”

What about Morocco, who are making a welcome return to this level of competition in international Sevens rugby?

Last year, the Moroccans made a massive statement of intent by appointing former Argentina winger Juan Imhoff as their new national Sevens team coach.

Morocco’s game is based on speed, skills and structure, a strategic fit with the Argentine’s style.

In their statement following Imhoff’s appointment, the Royal Moroccan Rugby Federation said:

“Through this decision, the Federation aims to build a competitive national team capable of representing Moroccan rugby with distinction on the African stage and aiming for qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.”

For the 38-year-old – who competed at four Rugby World Cups for Argentina and scored 17 tries in 43 appearances – playing at the Olympics and coaching at the Olympics is a dream of his that will drive Morocco in Kampala this weekend.

Pool A

• Zimbabwe
• Nigeria
• Ghana
• Morocco

Pool B

• Uganda
• Zambia
• Tunisia
• Senegal

 

Where to watch?

Rugby Pass TV: https://rugbypass.tv/home

Rugby Africa YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/RugbyAfricaOfficial

Rugby Africa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RugbyAfrique

 

Saturday, 26 September 2026 (EAT)

• 12:00 — Nigeria vs Ghana
• 12:22 — Zimbabwe vs Morocco
• 12:44 — Zambia vs Tunisia
• 13:06 — Uganda vs Senegal
• 14:44 — Nigeria vs Morocco
• 15:06 — Zimbabwe vs Ghana
• 15:28 — Zambia vs Senegal
• 15:50 — Uganda vs Tunisia

 

Sunday, 27 September 2026 (EAT)

• 09:00 — Ghana vs Morocco
• 09:22 — Tunisia vs Senegal
• 09:44 — Zimbabwe vs Nigeria
• 10:06 — Uganda vs Zambia
• 12:28 — 5th Place Semi-Final 1 — 3rd Pool A vs 4th Pool B
• 12:50 — 5th Place Semi-Final 2 — 3rd Pool B vs 4th Pool A
• 13:12 — Cup Semi-Final 1 — 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool B
• 13:34 — Cup Semi-Final 2 — 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A
• 15:12 — 7th Place Final — Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
• 15:36 — 5th Place Final — Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2
• 16:03 — Bronze Final — Loser Cup SF1 vs Loser Cup SF2
• 16:40 — Cup Final — Winner Cup SF1 vs Winner Cup SF2
• 17:02 — Medal Presentation

 

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Written by Enock Muchinjo