www.RugbyAfrique.com<\/a>), the continental governing body of rugby across Africa, and a member of World Rugby\u2019s Executive Board, praised Kenya for delivering a world-class HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Nairobi, describing the event as a statement of Africa\u2019s readiness to host global rugby competitions.<\/p>\nHeld at Nyayo National Stadium, the opening leg of HSBC SVNS 2 attracted over 15,000 fans across the weekend, alongside key dignitaries including Hon. Salim Mvurya, Kenya\u2019s Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports. The vibrant atmosphere and seamless organization reinforced Kenya\u2019s reputation as one of Africa\u2019s leading rugby nations.<\/p>\n
The Nairobi leg featured 12 men\u2019s and women\u2019s international teams competing for promotion back to the revamped HSBC SVNS series. Kenya\u2019s national men\u2019s team, Shujaa, delivered a strong campaign, finishing third to secure a bronze medal and 16 points in the standings, behind Germany (20 points) and the USA (18 points).<\/p>\n
Speaking following the tournament, Mensah commended Kenya Rugby Union and local authorities for their execution of the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cImpressively, it\u2019s sold out,\u201d said Mensah. \u201cWhat do you expect? HSBC on African soil with the incredible Kenyans. This is what happens when you combine world-class rugby with passionate supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKenya has proven that it can host the world. The organization, the energy in the stadium, the government support, this is a blueprint for Africa. When Africa hosts, Africa delivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament also marked another milestone in Africa\u2019s growing role within World Rugby\u2019s global events strategy, with HSBC SVNS competitions now staged across multiple continents as part of a restructured pathway system.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica is not the future of rugby, Africa is the now,\u201d Mensah added. \u201cWhen 15,000 people come to celebrate the sport, when leaders of government stand behind it, when young boys and girls see themselves on that stage, you are building something far greater than a tournament. You are building belief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s hosting success aligns with Rugby Africa\u2019s broader vision of positioning the continent as a key destination for international rugby. From packed stadiums to government partnership and broadcast reach, the Nairobi leg demonstrated the commercial and cultural potential of rugby events in Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As the HSBC SVNS 2 series now moves to Montevideo and S\u00e3o Paulo, Kenya\u2019s successful hosting of the opening leg sets a strong benchmark for future global rugby events on the continent.<\/p>\n
The Nairobi tournament, held on 14\u201315 February 2026, reinforced Africa\u2019s growing influence in the global rugby landscape as both competitors and capable hosts on the world stage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Rugby](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" "\\"See")
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NAIROBI, Kenya, February 17, 2026\/APO Group\/ — Herbert Mensah, President of Rugby Africa (www.RugbyAfrique.com), the continental governing body of rugby across Africa, and a member of World Rugby\u2019s Executive Board, praised Kenya for delivering a world-class HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Nairobi, describing the event as a statement of Africa\u2019s readiness to host global rugby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/rugbyafrica.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/cccc023d4be4b9d\/200\/200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/rugbyafrica.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/cccc023d4be4b9d\/200\/200","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}