HSBC SVNS Two: SA Women Qualify, Kenya Men Fight for Final Spot Today

The final SVNS2 leg kicks off today  in São Paulo, with World Championship qualification on the line. (Fixtures & Where to Watch Below)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The final leg of the HSBC SVNS2 series gets underway today, in São Paulo, with World Championship qualification on the line.

South Africa Women have qualified for the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series with one SVNS Division Two contest to spare, following their third-place finish in the second leg held in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, last weekend.

The Springbok Women Sevens finished third behind winners Argentina and second-placed Spain, with the South Americans claiming their second consecutive title following their victory in Kenya in February.

Both Argentina and South Africa have now secured their places in the World Championship well ahead of the season’s final leg of SVNS2 in São Paulo, Brazil.

South Africa’s second-place finish in the Nairobi leg set them up strongly for qualification to the elite three-legged World Championship, which will be staged in Hong Kong, Valladolid, and Bordeaux in May and June.

While conceding that his side was “poor” in certain areas of their game on their way to qualification, South Africa Women coach Cecil Afrika was nevertheless pleased with the outcome.

“We had two poor halves basically,” Afrika told the SARugby website.

“We started poorly against Spain in the first match on Saturday and finished poorly against Argentina in the last match on Sunday, but in between we really did well.”

The lapses Afrika referred to included the Springbok Women Sevens’ 15-14 loss to Spain, having trailed 15-0 at one stage, as well as the 22-10 defeat to champions Argentina, during which they conceded three tries in the second half.

“Those were bad patches of rugby, but I have to look at the rest of the tournament as well and we really played excellent rugby against China, Brazil and Kenya,” said Afrika.

“Especially our defensive effort was massive and that did put teams under huge pressure. I cannot fault the effort from the ladies, who really gave everything they had.”

With their ticket to the World Championship secured, South Africa will now head to São Paulo with the aim of ironing out the rough edges in their game ahead of the crucial assignments in May and June.

“We need to play matches at this level to get use to the intensity and quality as we are also in the process of building depth in our squad,” Afrika said.

Meanwhile, Kenya Men remain in strong contention for World Championship qualification after securing bronze in Montevideo, following an impressive and hard-fought 22-14 victory over hosts Uruguay in both sides’ final match on Sunday. The top four teams in both the women’s and men’s standings of SVNS2 qualify for the World Championship.

The USA were crowned champions in Uruguay at the weekend, swapping places with Germany, who won in Kenya last month. This means both the United States and Germany have secured their berths in the World Championship with one tournament to go, leaving Kenya and Uruguay battling for the final two spots.

However, Kenya appear better placed to join the USA and Germany. Shujaa sit third with 32 points, six behind joint leaders USA and Germany heading into the final leg in Brazil.

While Kenya Men have one foot in the World Championship, their female counterparts endured a difficult campaign, finishing last in Montevideo.

Kenya Women stunned eventual champions Argentina with a 12-10 victory, but that remarkable result proved to be their only win of the tournament, as they went on to lose to China, Spain, South Africa and Brazil.

The Lionesses now have it all to do in Brazil in their quest for World Championship qualification.

Where to watch?

Supersport: Channel 207/SS Variety 2

More information: Click Here

Match Day 1: Saturday 28 March 2026 (GMT)

Women

• 14:06 – South Africa vs Spain
• 14:28 – Kenya vs Argentina
• 17:18 – South Africa vs Kenya
• 20:05 – Kenya vs Spain
• 20:49 – South Africa vs Brazil

 
Men

• 13:22 – Kenya vs Germany
• 16:12 – Kenya vs Belgium
• 19:21 – Kenya vs Canada

Match Day 2: Sunday 29 March 2026 (GMT)

Women

• 15:06 – Kenya vs China 
• 15:28 – South Africa vs Argentina
• 18:18 – South Africa vs China 
• 19:02 – Kenya vs Brazil
   

Men

• 14:44 – Kenya vs USA
• 17:34 – Kenya vs Uruguay 
   

Written by Enock Muchinjo