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.
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.”
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
- South Africa
- Spain
- China
- Kenya
- Brazil
Men
- Germany
- USA
- Kenya
- Uruguay
- Belgium
- Canada
All of the results can be seen here.
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