Uganda prepare bid to host HSBC SVNS 3
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 08.03.26. | 15:05
The Ugandans are drawing strong inspiration from Kenya’s hosting of the HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Nairobi in February, which was widely praised despite the home side falling short of lifting the title
Uganda is preparing a formal bid to host the HSBC SVNS 3 tournament, buoyed by the success of similar international rugby events staged in East Africa in recent years.
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The move comes after the latest SVNS 3 event was held in Dubai from Saturday, 17 to Sunday, 18 January, with Uganda now hoping to position itself as the next host of the competition.
The Ugandans are drawing strong inspiration from Kenya’s hosting of the HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Nairobi in February, which was widely praised despite the home side falling short of lifting the title.
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The tournament attracted massive crowds, generated a vibrant stadium atmosphere, and capped off with an energetic afterparty that resonated with fans and players alike.
According to World Rugby Regional Partnership Manager for Africa Coralie Van Der Berg, there has been a deliberate effort to bring more international rugby events to East Africa.
“We have been pushing to host an HSBC tournament either in Kenya or Uganda because we know what these two countries can offer to the local fans and the global fans,” Van Der Berg said.
“It was a very proud moment when Kenya Rugby Union was awarded hosting of the HSBC SVNS 2, and they delivered; we knew that they would.
We have ticked all the boxes, we knew they would deliver, and now World Rugby is convinced that there is potential to host amazing events in Africa outside of South Africa,” she continued.
Africa currently hosts one major leg of the top-tier sevens circuit, the Cape Town Sevens in South Africa. Still, the success of Nairobi’s SVNS 2 event has strengthened the case for expanding the sport’s global footprint within the continent.
“We have the Cape Town 7s, which is one of the major legs of the SVNS 1; we have the SVNS 2 in Nairobi that blew people away everywhere in the world and blew away social media, and we are very intentional about bringing SVNS 3 in Uganda,” she added.
Uganda’s confidence is also rooted in its recent experience hosting a major international rugby event. The country staged the Rugby World Cup qualifiers in July last year, an event that was widely considered well-organised and competitively staged.
Van Der Berg revealed that discussions around the possibility of Uganda hosting SVNS 3 have already taken place at the government level.
“We had very constructive meetings with the Minister of State and Sports, who met with the leadership of World Rugby last year in London, and they were in principle agreement to look at the opportunities of hosting a SVNS 3 tournament in Uganda.
We know what Uganda can do. We hosted the Rugby World Cup in July last year, and it was a fantastic tournament, so we know that Uganda has the capacity, the backing of the government, and the fans,” she explained.
The next step will involve Uganda going through World Rugby’s official bidding process, which includes evaluating infrastructure, financial commitments, and operational standards required to stage the event.
“So now we will go through the normal process of applying and reviewing the standards and funding commitments for both parties, and we will be able to confirm something hopefully before next year,” Van Der Berg said.
If successful, Uganda would become the third African nation to host an HSBC SVNS tournament.