By Mahlon Lichuma
The 2025 Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens offered a clear picture of how women’s rugby on the continent is growing, with strong performances, new talent, and important ranking movements coming out of the weekend.
A major highlight was the stability at the top with South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Tunisia, and Zambia all retaining their places in the top six, showing that the top tier of African women’s rugby is becoming more competitive and consistent.
Hosts Kenya had a solid tournament, producing strong wins over Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Zimbabwe to finish second overall and safely maintain their Division II status.
The middle positions saw some of the most interesting changes as Zimbabwe recorded one of the biggest improvements of the weekend, climbing from 9th in 2024 to 7th in 2025. Their overall performance showed better structure and confidence. Ghana, however, dropped one position from 7th to 8th after a mixed outing.
This year’s edition also introduced new participation with Egypt making their debut replacing Senegal, who did not compete.
They finished 11th but showed potential and gained valuable exposure that will support their development in future tournaments.
At the bottom of the rankings, Burkina Faso enjoyed a notable rise, moving from 12th to 10th thanks to improved teamwork and resilience across their games. Mauritius and Côte d’Ivoire rounded out the standings.
The 2025 Women’s Africa Sevens highlighted progress, competitiveness, and the growing depth of the game, giving teams like Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe important platforms as they prepare for future regional and international challenges.
English