Shujaa find out opponents for men's HSBC SVNS Play-Off in Madrid

The men’s national rugby 7s side, Shujaa, successfully booked their spot in the HSBC SVNS Play-Off tournament that will take place in Madrid from 31 May to 2 June with the team hoping to gain immediate promotion back to the top-tier competition.

Following their second-place finish behind Uruguay in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024, Shujaa qualified for the Madrid tournament alongside Chile and Germany who also managed to be inside the required top four positions.

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As a result, the pools for the Play-Off tournament in Madrid will see Uruguay and Germany facing the USA and Canada in Pool A, while Kenya and Chile join Spain and Samoa in Pool B.

USA, Canada, Spain and Samoa are the teams that finished in the bottom four places in the HSBC SVNS Series.

Shujaa co-captain Vincent Onyala said: “We are definitely happy, because with beating Uganda now, we have sealed our top four. Now we just wait to see what Madrid has for us. Hopefully we’ll get there and build on our little moments then see ourselves back in the HSBC SVNS Series.”

“It will be big. Our programme will grow. The boys that are coming in will experience what it means to play with the best and we’ll build on from there.”

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Promotion and Relegation competition format

There will be an 8-team tournament for men and an 8-team tournament for women.

This Tournament will comprise of the bottom 4 men’s Teams from the HSBC SVNS and top 4 men’s Teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series 2024 - as well as bottom 4 women’s Teams from the HSBC SVNS and top 4 Teams from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series 2024.

The eight teams will be placed into two pools of four teams based upon their SVNS and Challenger rankings.

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Each team will play their three pool opponents to establish their pool position.

This will be followed by the winner takes all play-off match where the top positioned team in pool A plays the fourth position in pool B, second in pool A plays third in pool B and so on.

The four play-off match winners will secure HSBC SVNS 2025 status.

The four teams defeated in the play-off matches will enter the qualification pathway for SVNS 2026 status through the relevant regional championship and then through qualification to the 2025 World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger.

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