The women’s competition at the 2026 National 7s Circuit will adopt a revamped format aimed at guaranteeing every participating team more competitive matches while ensuring that all eight sides remain in contention beyond the pool stages.
Unlike previous editions, all eight women’s teams will compete in a single division, with the teams initially split into two pools of four. Each side will play three pool matches before advancing to the knockout phase.
One of the biggest changes is that every team will qualify for the quarter-finals, with pool standings determining the quarter-final pairings. Teams that perform better during the pool stage will be rewarded with more favourable knockout fixtures based on merit.
The quarter-finals will serve as the first elimination round, with only four teams progressing to the semi-finals in the race for the tournament title. The winners of the semi-finals will then advance to the Cup final, while the losing semi-finalists will contest the third-place playoff.
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Teams eliminated at the quarter-final stage will not end their campaigns there. Instead, they will move into the fifth-place playoffs, where they will compete in fifth-place semi-finals.
The winners of those matches will meet in the fifth-place final to determine the fifth and sixth positions, while the losing teams will be ranked seventh and eighth based on the points accumulated during the tournament.
The revised structure ensures that every team plays meaningful knockout rugby while providing additional competitive fixtures for player development and accurate final rankings. It also rewards strong performances in the pool stage through merit-based quarter-final seedings before the competition transitions into the knockout rounds.
The new women’s format is part of the wider changes introduced for the 2026 National 7s Circuit, with the Kenya Rugby Union seeking to make the competition more competitive
