Challenger Cup 2025: Kenya spoil South Africa's party...again
WRAP: The BlitzBoks Women had to settle for second best as Kenye were crowned World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025 champions.
The Kenye side recorded a 17-0 victory over South Africa at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.
South Africa booked a spot in the Final after a hard-fought win over Czechia in the semifinal.
However, the side struggled in the Final and was outperformed by a physical Kenya side.
Last week, Kenya also ended South Africa’s hopes of securing a title by knocking them out in the semifinal showdown.
The Final was a huge disappointment for the crowd who showed up.
The Bok Women, who lost Zintle Mpupha due to suspension for a high tackle in the semifinal, failed to fire a shot, with numerous handling errors the order of the day.
No less than six handling errors occurred when the final pass was delivered, with both wingers, Maria Tshiremba and Ayanda Malinga, not on song.
Kenya, on the other hand, remained patient with the ball in hand and pounced when it mattered. They scored tries on either side of the break and nailed the coffin shut with a converted try with just under two minutes to play.
To compound matters for the home side, they lost Kayla Swarts with injury near the end of the match.
In the Men’s, Portugal were crowned the Kings of the Cape after a win over Germany in the Final
Impressive start by the host nation! 🇿🇦https://t.co/9fSB6YSK7U
ADVERTISEMENT— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) March 7, 2025
The top eight men’s teams to go to the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger third round in Krakow are Germany, Canada, Portugal, Chile, Samoa, Japan, Madagascar, and Tonga.
On International Women’s Day, there was joy for Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Colombia, Thailand, Czechia, Poland and Uganda, who marked the occasion by securing their places in the third Challenger round on April 11-12 in Poland.
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 May 3-4, where they will face the bottom four ranked teams from HSBC SVNS 2025 in a high-stakes promotion and relegation tournament with four coveted places in future SVNS at stake.
The Challenger was introduced in February 2020 to boost the development of rugby sevens across the globe and provide a clear promotion pathway to reach the top level of global rugby sevens for the short format of the game, which has experienced massive growth over the past two decades since the introduction of the global sevens series and becoming an Olympic sport at the Rio 2016 Games.
Day Two results:
Men:
Ninth place semifinal
Uganda 17-33 Madagascar
Hong Kong 24-19 Brazil
Fifth place semifinal
Tonga 26-12 Georgia
Chily 19-24 Samoa
Cup semifinals
Canada 14-24 Germany
Japan 14-36 Portugal
11th place play-off
Uganda 36-12 Brazil
Ninth place play-off
Madagascar 24-10 Hong Kong China
Seventh place play-off
Georgia 5-15 Chile
Tonga 14-35 Samaob
Third place play-off
Canada 28-15 Japan
Cup Final
Germany 7-12 Portugal
Women:
Ninth place semifinal
Hong Kong China 26-21 Samoa
Belquim 36-0 Mexico
Fifth place semifinal
Argentina 29-12 Poland
Uganda 7-14 Thailand
Cup semifinals
Czechia 15-21 South Africa
Kenya 12-5 Colombia
11th place play-off
Samoa 34-10 Mexico
Hong Kong China 5-29 Belgium
Seventh place play-off
Polands 0-39 Uganda
Fifth place play-off
Argentina 30-10 Thailand
Third place play-off
Czechia 5-35 Colombia
Cup Final
South Africa 0-17 Kenya
The Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 is coming to England. Click here to buy tickets.
