NAIROBI, Kenya, November 13, 2025 – Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya has revealed that Kenya will host a leg of the World Rugby Series at the Talanta Stadium, which is currently under construction.
Mvurya says the government has already given the go-ahead to Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) on the same, and will fully support the bid.
“We have approved the Kenya Rugby Union’s request to host a World Series leg and hopefully Talanta Stadium will be ready. It will be a 60,000-seater stadium that will be exclusively for football and rugby. We will be ready and as government, we will be fully behind this event,” he said.
The CS added the government will work closely with various stakeholders to ensure that the tournament becomes a success.
“This (HSBC tournament) will be a whole government approach that will involve a number of agencies, including the security apparatus. We will collaborate fully with KRU and Rugby Africa on the success of the same,” Mvurya said.
Mvurya was responding to a request by Rugby Africa president Herbert Mensah who had expressed the desire to see Kenya host World Rugby Series competition in the near future.
“We as Rugby Africa are determined to give Kenya the chance to host at least two or three competitions. Even better than that…last Saturday I was with a representative from World Rugby and there is a desire to have Kenya host a leg of the HSBC Series,” Mensah said.
The Ghanaian pointed to Kenya’s burgeoning stature as a sports events destination as the rationale for his request.
“We only do this because we have confidence in the Kenyan government…because we have confidence in the leadership of Kenyan rugby,” he said.
Speaking at the same time, Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chief executive officer Thomas Odundo confirmed that they have submitted a bid to host a Division 2 competition of the World Rugby Series.
They are awaiting a response from the global governing body.
“World Rugby invited bids for either Division 1 or Division 2 of the World Rugby Series and Kenya applied for Division 2. The government gave us a letter of support for the bid and we awaiting a response from World Rugby,” Odundo said.
Even as the country keeps its fingers crossed for the prestigious tournament, Kenya will this weekend be hosting the 14th edition of the Rugby Africa 7s at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi.
The two-day tournament will feature 12 top teams from the continent, including defending champions South Africa as well as the hosts.
