As exclusively reported by www.thesportsnewsarena.com on November 22, 2025, Kenya shall host one leg of the newly introduced World Rugby Tier Two Sevens competition.

Thomas Odundo, the Kenya Rugby Union CEO broke the news after attending a Zoom session in Dubai where World Rugby confirmed the venues and format for the Tier Two and three competitions. The tournament will be hosted by KRU at the Nyayo National Stadium from February 14-15, 2026. 

“We are extremely excited and delighted to have been selected to host the first leg of HSBC Sevens 2 in Nairobi. It is a great honor to have been selected and we would like to welcome everybody from near and far to the city of Nairobi for the event,” Odundo stated in a video clip.

Two Venues

The other two venues are Montevideo, Uruguay who will host the three-leg event between March 21-22, 2026 before the last stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil the following weekend on March 28-29. 

At all the venues, the tournaments shall feature six men’s and women’s teams. Already,China, Kenya, Spain, Brazil (women) and Kenya, USA, Germany, Uruguay (men) have qualified. They will be joined by two teams from the tier three competition to be played in Dubai from January 17-18, 2026.

Tier Three

The teams to compete at the tier three tournament in Dubai are: Argentina, Colombia, Czechia, Mexico, Poland, Samoa, South Africa, Thailand (women) and Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong China, Italy, Madagascar, Samoa, Tonga (men).

Alan Gilpin, the World Rugby Chief Executive said the new three-tier global structure sets a clear competitive pathway for teams worldwide. It is also an opportunity for emerging nations to climb rapidly through the system as the momentum builds towards the Los Angeles Games in 2028. He added:  “We’re entering an exciting new era for sevens as we kick off the journey to LA 2028.”