- Kenya Lionesses have been grouped in Pool D.
- The first and second rounds of the 2025 HSBC Challenger Series will take place in Cape Town.
- The team needs to finish inside the top four positions at the end of the 2025 Challenger Series to qualify for the HSBC SVNS play-offs.
The Kenya women’s national rugby 7s team has been pooled alongside two tough teams ahead of the HSBC Challenger Series 2025 opener.
The team, which is popularly known as the Kenya Lionesses, will battle it out with Poland and Samoa in Pool D.
On the other hand, Kenya’s neighbors Uganda will start their campaign in Pool C against Colombia and Belgium.
Meanwhile, Pool A has South Africa, Hong Kong China and Czechia while Mexico, Argentina, Thailand have been grouped in Pool B.
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Kenya Lionesses will be aiming to top their Pool in order to bag a direct ticket to the semifinals of the first round that is scheduled to be held in Cape Town, South Africa between March 1 and March 2.
According to the organizers of the tournament, the second round is also expected to take place in Cape Town between March 7 and March 8.
Therefore, a good outing for the Kenya Lionesses in the two rounds of the tournament will help them gather enough points that will increase their chances of qualifying for the HSBC SVNS play-offs.
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The relegation/promotion play-offs will involve four top teams from this years’ Challenger Series and the bottom-four nations in the ongoing HSBC SVNS series.
As stated by World Rugby, the play-offs are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, United States in May.
“At the conclusion of the second round in Cape Town, the top ranked eight men’s and women’s teams will progress to the third and final tournament at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow on 11-12 April.
The four men’s and women’s teams with the most cumulative points gained across the three Challenger rounds will then qualify for the HSBC SVNS Play Off in Los Angeles on 3-4 May,” read part of the statement on the World Rugby website.
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The first two rounds of the Challenger will replicate the competition format used for the recent HSBC SVNS Cape Town tournament in December 2024. This sees the four pool winners progress directly to contest the semi-finals, while second placed teams will play for fifth to eighth places and teams finishing third in their pools will compete for ninth to twelfth positions.
At the conclusion of the second round in Cape Town, the top ranked eight men’s and women’s teams will progress to the third and final tournament at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow on 11 – 12 April.
The four men’s and women’s teams with the most cumulative points gained across the three Challenger rounds will then qualify for the HSBC SVNS Play Off in Los Angeles on 3 – 4 May.
What do Kenya Lionesses have to do to gain promotion?
The first two rounds of the Challenger will replicate the competition format used for the recent HSBC SVNS Cape Town tournament in December 2024.
This sees the four pool winners progress directly to contest the semi-finals, while second placed teams will play for fifth to eighth places and teams finishing third in their pools will compete for ninth to twelfth positions.
At the conclusion of the second round in Cape Town, the top ranked eight men’s and women’s teams will progress to the third and final tournament at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow on 11 – 12 April.
The four men’s and women’s teams with the most cumulative points gained across the three Challenger rounds will then qualify for the HSBC SVNS Play Off in Los Angeles on 3 – 4 May where the winning teams will get promoted to HSBC SVNS 2026.
