Heartbreak as Shujaa miss HSBC SVNS Division One promotion
Rugby
By
Washington Onyango
| Jun 08, 2026
Kenya Sevens players huddle together before taking to the field at the Bordeaux Sevens in France. [KRU Media]
Kenya, for the third straight season, will be playing in the second tier of the World Rugby Sevens Series after failing to qualify for the 2026-2027 HSBC SVNS Division One in the final leg of the SVNS World Championship that ended in France on Sunday.
After a positive show in the opening two legs of the World Championship played in Hong Kong and Valladolid that had placed Kenya on course to secure promotion back to the top tier global rugby sevens competition, Shujaa only needed to finish ninth to get promoted.
Kenya were eighth on the overall standings with 14 points before the final leg of the championship and needed four points to qualify.
However, after a poor show at the Bordeaux Sevens where they lost four matches, Shujaa finished 11th after edging out Uruguay 26-7 in the 11th-place playoffs and collected two points.
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Their poor performance enabled USA, who came to France ranked 11th with five points, to leapfrog the East Africans and grab the final spot in the Division One after they came from 14-0 down to stun Fiji 17-14 to win the fifth-place playoff and collect 12 points that lifted them to eighth with 17 points.
The Americans now join France, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa and Spain in the Division One next season.
Kenya, on the other hand, are relegated to Division Two alongside Great Britain, Germany and Uruguay.
Kenya began the Bordeaux Sevens on the back foot after losing to Fiji 31-12 and South Africa 26-5 on Friday before missing out on the quarterfinals when they lost their final Group A match 14-5 to Great Britain.
Despite missing out on the quarters, Shujaa needed to win the ninth-place semifinal against Germany to stand a chance of earning promotion, but they lost 7-5 to the Germans and slipped to the 11th-place final playoffs.
Despite winning against Uruguay, Kenya needed Fiji to do them a favour to defeat USA in the fifth-place finals for them to qualify, hopes that were cemented when the Fijians led 14-0 at the break before the Americans came from behind to stun the former Olympic champions and sneak in at the death.