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Kenya slams World Rugby over format change
Kenya’s Kevin Wekesa in action during their play-off final match against Canada at the Dignity Health Sports Park in USA on Sunday.
What you need to know:
- On the women’s side, the Kenya Lionesses defeated continental rivals South Africa 17-14 in a tight contest. The Lionesses had earlier led 10-7 at the break. A brace from Freshia Oduor and a try from Sharon Ouma sealed the win, with Sinaida Aura adding a conversion.
- The Lionesses had a strong campaign in the Women’s Challenger Series, winning both Cape Town I and II legs unbeaten, and finishing third in Krakow, Poland.
How World Rugby had teams work hard, toil, and burn the midnight oil—only to pull the rug from under their feet—is simply gutting.
That is the prevailing sentiment not just in the Kenya Sevens and Kenya Lionesses camps, but across several nations that participated in the promotion-relegation playoffs at the Los Angeles Sevens over the weekend.
The sudden and unexpected format change by World Rugby has left many teams devastated, with accusations now surfacing that the global body is deliberately undermining the growth of the sevens game.
Kenya Sevens head coach Kelvin “Bling” Wambua and Kenya Lionesses co-captains Sheila Chagira and Grace Okulu expressed shock and disappointment at the new structure, which effectively denied both teams a shot at top-flight rugby.
On the eve of the Los Angeles Sevens, World Rugby announced a major overhaul of the World Rugby Sevens Series, dividing the competition into three tiers.
From next season, only the top eight teams from the regular season will remain in Division One, which will comprise six tournaments.
The top four teams from the promotion/relegation playoffs—formerly a path to the elite series—will now compete in Division Two, featuring only three tournaments, joined by four other continental qualifiers.
Division Three will be a one-off event involving those eliminated from Division Two, among others.
The 2026 World Championship will then bring together all tier winners: the eight from Division One, four from Division Two, and the winner of Division Three.
“Having had a tough season, our priority in Los Angeles was to fight our way back into the World Series. But we are gutted by the decision from World Rugby to change the format at the last minute,” said Wambua. “It’s a setback to the development of the game.”
Wambua expressed particular sympathy for the Lionesses, who were on the verge of qualifying for their first-ever Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series appearance. He criticized the limited exposure of just three tournaments before the championship round, arguing it won’t allow teams like Kenya to compete at the highest level.
“Kenya Rugby Union will now have to find alternative tournaments to maintain and improve our standards ahead of the World Championships. By the time we get there, we want to be at par with the Division One teams,” said Wambua.
He thanked fans for their unwavering support across the season. “Their turnout in Dubai was good, in Perth it was excellent, and Los Angeles was just great. Those who turned up at the stadiums never left their seats,” he added.
Wambua is hopeful that with hard work and smart play, his team will earn a place in Division One next season. “We’ll take a short break, assess our performance this season, and plan for high-caliber tournaments going forward,” he said.
Lionesses co-captain Sheila Chagira was equally stunned: “For close to 10 years, our dream and hard work was geared toward qualifying for the World Series. It’s shocking that World Rugby can decide to change the format during the last tournament. It is simply sad for us.”
Still, she remains hopeful. “We’ll play in Division Two and hopefully qualify for Division One next season. We have the talent and manpower to do that,” Chagira stated.
Grace Okulu echoed the sentiment, expressing heartbreak over the sudden change after years of sacrifice. “We sweated, trained in the rain, trained in the sunshine... we did everything that people won’t know behind the buzz,” she said.
Kenya Sevens finished ninth in the 2024/25 World Rugby Sevens Series, dropping them to the promotion/relegation playoffs, while the top eight teams advanced directly to the newly established Division One.
In Los Angeles, Kenya beat Canada 24-7 in one of the playoff finals to secure their place in Division Two for the 2026 season. Anthony Omondi and Vincent Onyala scored two tries each, while Nygel Amaitsa converted twice as Shujaa led 19-0 at halftime and cruised to victory.
Joining Kenya in Division Two are USA, Germany, and Uruguay.
On the women’s side, the Kenya Lionesses defeated continental rivals South Africa 17-14 in a tight contest. The Lionesses had earlier led 10-7 at the break. A brace from Freshia Oduor and a try from Sharon Ouma sealed the win, with Sinaida Aura adding a conversion.
The Lionesses had a strong campaign in the Women’s Challenger Series, winning both Cape Town I and II legs unbeaten, and finishing third in Krakow, Poland.