Argentina Women and German men Win Nairobi Leg of HSBC SVNS Division 2 2026

Promoted HSBC SVNS 3 women’s champions Argentina, and the German men won the HSBC SVNS 2  Nairobi titles at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Las Yaguaretés (Argentina’s) Sofía Gonzalez and Kenya’s George Ooro were awarded the Player of the Tournament in the HSBC SVNS 2 opening round, which saw 15,000 fans attend.

Herbert Mensah, President of Rugby Africa, said, “Kenya has proven that it can host the world. The organisation, the energy in the stadium, the government support, this is a blueprint for Africa. When Africa hosts, Africa delivers.”

Gonzalez said, “We’ve had a really long time to get ready for this [tournament]. We’ve been training for three years with our new staff, and everyone has put in a lot of work, physically and mentally. We’ve been doing a lot of hard work, so we’re really happy with the outcome. [This is] not a coincidence — it’s because of everything that we’ve been doing.”

Springbok Women’s Sevens coach Cecil Afrika said if his side, who were runners-up, “The girls really played for each other and they showed how much that jersey means to them. The character and fight to stay in that match and ultimately win it was massive for us and the squad in general. I am very proud of that performance.”

Maria Tshiremba was the South African top scorer with 4 tries.

The series moves to South America next with events in Montevideo and São Paulo. At the end of the three HSBC SVNS 2 legs, the leading four men’s and women’s sides will head into the elite tri-tournament World Championship series in May and June.

Photo Credit – World Rugby

New-Look China Women Claim 4th

The senior Chinese side has seen 7-8 players retire recently, and this new generation had to find their feet quickly on the international stage, overall winning two matches and losing three, which placed them in 4th overall.

Co-captains Sun Yue and Dou Xinrong, as well as Chen Can, are some of the recognisable names, and there were several players in the squad who stood out at the China National Games at the end of 2025.

Against the three sides who finished above them on the table, Argentina, SA, and Spain, the Chinese were mostly outplayed and outsprinted as they lacked cohesion (and the squad seems to lack pace against the top sides). But against Kenya and Brazil, the Chinese showed better cohesion and patience to secure good wins.

The side made a lot of basic handling mistakes we dont expect from a team that has set such high standards over recent seasons, but we anticipate the more they play on this stage, the better they will get as a unit.

• China 10-20 Argentina
• China 15-12 Kenya
• China 0-21 Spain
• China 5-33 SA
• China 24-5 Brazil

21-year-old rookie, Qian Xin, was the side’s top scorer in Kenya.

China try scorers: Dou Xinrong, Chen Can (x2),  Le Zhang, Sun Yue (x2), Ge Chenjie, Qian Xin (x3)

Photo Credit – World Rugby – China Women 7s

Final Standings – HSBC SVNS 2 Nairobi

Women

• Argentina 20 points
• South Africa 18 points
• Spain 16 points
• China 14 points
• Kenya 12 points
• Brazil 10 points

Men

• Germany 20 points
• USA 18 points
• Kenya 16 points
• Uruguay 14 points
• Belgium 12 points
• Canada 10 points

All of the results can be seen here.

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