The 2025 Rugby Africa Cup gets underway on 8 July at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda, and all fixtures in this tournament will be played at the same venue, with 8 teams chasing Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification as the winner of the African Men’s XV tournament, while the runner-up will play the UAE in the Africa/Asia playoff.
The first Rugby Africa Cup took place in 2000 with five teams competing, and this year, the teams in action are Zimbabwe (defending champions), Morocco (newly promoted), losing 2024 finalists Algeria, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Senegal, Kenya, and the host Uganda.
Rugby Africa President Herbert Mensah led a stadium inspection at Mandela National Stadium ahead of the tournament, and in the lead-up to the Rugby Africa Cup 2025, he also welcomed the arrival of the Webb Ellis Cup in Uganda for the first time.
In attendance were Mensah, Godwin Kayangwe (President of Uganda Rugby Union), Jonathan Webb (Vice Chair of World Rugby), and David Carrigy (Chief of International Relations).
Mensah said, “For the Webb Ellis Cup to be in Uganda for the first time, ahead of Africa’s most important qualifier, shows how far both Uganda and African rugby have come. This is a proud moment for Uganda and for the continent. The moment belongs to every African player who dreams of lifting this trophy one day.”
Of the teams competing, Zimbabwe won the tournament last year after beating Namibia in the semi-finals and Algeria in the final. They have seen some former pros join the squad and have had a tour to Asia in December 2024, beating UAE and Korea as they try and reach their first Rugby World Cup. Head Coach Piet Benade has said he has most of the squad back who won the title in 2024.
The team includes Australia-based halfback Ian Prior (formerly of the Western Force), who said from Kampala, “I am excited, the boys have been putting in the work, they have been working really hard and there is a good vibe around here…We can always take confidence in the work that we did last year and in the tour of the UAE and South Korea as well. We just need to keep performing game on game, that’s the big goal.”
Namibia (known as the Welwitschias) has traditionally been the favourite and has featured in the Men’s Rugby World Cup 7 times: 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. However, they finished 3rd in last year’s Rugby Africa Cup and their ambitions of going to the 8th Rugby World Cup were dealt a blow when Head Coach Chrysander Botha left his role just before the tournament.
Jacques Burger (Namibia and Saracens), who only stepped into the Namibia Director of Rugby role in November 2024 after the departure of Alister Coetzee, will be the Head Coach for the tournament. Namibia was thumped by Italy in July and narrowly beat Uganda in a warm-up match 22-19.
Kenya, known as the Sables, faces a tricky opponent in their first game, and the Kenyan management, led by Jerome Paarwater, has prepared for facing Uganda by spending one month at a High-Performance camp in South Africa - playing 9 matches with various teams, including South Africa’s Junior Boks.
Paarwater said, “The guys are looking well prepared and ready for the tournament in Uganda. We’re glad that we don’t have any serious injuries within the team. There have been a lot of lessons learned in South Africa, and the players bonded very well with each other, and this improves the teamwork both on and off the field.”
The Ugandan Cranes also had preparation matches in South Africa, and a number of their Sevens stars are due to be in action.
Rugby Africa Cup 2025 Schedule
Each round will be treated like a final, as the competition starts effectively at the quarterfinal stage, and the winners of the opening round will move into the semifinal and so on.
In the opening round, the Zimbabwe Sables will be expected to see off the Moroccans, while Namibia should be too strong for Senegal.
Algeria should also reach the semifinals when they take on the Ivory Coast first. The squad includes players who have French D2 experience, and even for France U20, Rayne Barka was a World U20 champion in 2019 with the French. Nadir Megdoud has Top 14 experience.
The most intriguing match in the opening round is the host Uganda playing Kenya. The Kenyans have already faced the UAE this year and had a preparation tour in South Africa to prepare for the African Championship.
The winning teams will proceed to the semi-finals scheduled for Sunday, July 13, 2025, and the final takes place on July 19, where the winner will secure Africa’s direct ticket to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The runner-up heads to a play-off against the Asian runner-up, the United Arab Emirates, which is expected to be played on 26th July at Namboole - just a week after the Rugby Africa Cup concludes, but this is to be confirmed.
The winner of that match will head to the Final Qualification Tournament, which is going to be held from 8–18 November 2025 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai.
Three matches across less than two weeks will test each African squad's depth, and the conditioning of the teams will be vital.
Match Day 1: Tuesday 08 July 2025 (Local Time) (EAT)
10:00 – Zimbabwe vs Morocco
12:00 – Algeria vs Côte d’Ivoire
14:00 – Namibia vs Senegal
16:00 – Kenya vs Uganda
Match Day 2: Sunday 13 July 2025 (Local Time) (EAT)
10:00 – Loser Match 2 vs Loser Match 3
12:00 – Loser Match 1 vs Loser Match 4
14:00 – Winner Match 2 vs Winner Match 3
16:00 – Winner Match 1 vs Winner Match 4
Match Day 3: Saturday 19 July 2025 (Local Time) (EAT)
10:00 – Loser Match 5 vs Loser Match 6 (7th Place Final)
12:00 – Winner Match 5 vs Winner Match 6 (5th Place Final)
14:00 – Loser Match 7 vs Loser Match 8 (3rd Place Final)
16:00 – Winner Match 7 vs Winner Match 8 (Final)
All RWC 2027 qualifications are set to conclude by the end of 2025, a first in Men’s Rugby World Cup history. The World Rugby Rankings will inform team seedings for the tournament draw, which is due to be held in December 2025.