Zimbabwe land SVNS 3 qualification with Rugby Africa 7s title

The Zimbabwe men’s sevens team has fired a warning shot to the rest of Africa’s rapidly developing sevens nations, stunning hosts Uganda 26-19 to claim the Rugby Africa 7s title at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds in Kampala.

The result will see the Cheetahs earn qualification for the HSBC SVNS 3 tournament later this year, but it was far from guaranteed after a tightly contested weekend.

Starting their tournament with a 19-12 win against Morocco, Zimbabwe got into their groove with a 40-17 win over Ghana.

A steady deconstruction of Nigeria 26-14 and a tight win over Zambia 24-19 saw the Cheetahs set for a tight grand final against the hosts, who were favourites to qualify coming into the weekend and who had put away Senegal and Tunisia on day one.

Also having to dig deep to overcome Zambia and Morocco on day two, the hosts started the final slowly but soon managed two tries to Daniels Otim and Malcom Okello.

Things got worse for Zimbabwe with Ryan Mushumi sent for a yellow card, however the visitors cut the margin to seven on the half time bell thanks to a try to PK Manyakara.

The momentum continued to build for the visitors with a try to Tatenda Kamubvumbi, but Nobert Sexton Okeny pulled one back for Uganda to make the score 19-all with two minutes to go, the Cranes reduced to six men and having to defend.

With the numerical advantage, Zimbabwe successfully stretched Uganda’s defence, and in the dying stages a try to Ablant Tavonga proved enough to see Zimbabwe claim a famous win.

With the XV’s side also a team on the up within the rugby world, Zimbabwe’s qualification officially signals their arrival as one of Africa’s developing nations, joining the likes of Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar.

However, the weekend also marked the emergence of several new exciting nations – most notably Morocco and Zambia, with both sides producing some of the best rugby of the weekend to make it to the third placed playoff – with Morocco prevailing 19-17.

Attention will now shift to the final two big tournaments of the region, with early October seeing the second series of the Africa Men’s Sevens and the Safari Sevens.

The former event, set to take place in Mauritius on 3–4 October 2026, will see Burkina Faso, Egypt, hosts Mauritius and South Africa in Pool A, with SVNS 2 qualified side Kenya, 2025 SVNS 3 qualifying side Madagascar, Namibia and Reunion in Pool B.

The tournaments were split to improve competitiveness in African pathways, increase opportunities, and determine continental team rankings – with Mauritius also having to postpone the tournament from June to October due to the Ebola outbreak.

The following week, Kenya will host the Safari Sevens from 9-11 October 2026, with two teams from Kenya, three from South Africa, two from France, one from the UK and United States, and the national sides of Scotland, Uganda and Zimbabwe all taking part in the men’s competition.

The women’s competition will also see international representation, with three Kenya sides being joined by the Tunisia sevens side, Uganda sevens side and the Costa Blanca Barbarians.