The 2025 Rugby Africa Cup featured eight of the continent’s top teams: Hosts Uganda, Namibia, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
Oliver Ochieng
Zimbabwe secured a historic return to the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 34 years, after defeating long-time rivals Namibia in the Africa Rugby Cup final held on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
The Sables were powered by strength, unity and dominance throughout the tournament, beating Namibia 30-28 in the final to not only defend their title, but also qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, with the side’s Lock Godfrey Muzanargwo being named man-of-the-match.
It is Zimbabwe’s first World Cup qualification since 1991, and the third time in history, joining World champions South Africa as Africa’s representatives. South Africa did not compete in Uganda.
Herbert Mensah, Africa Rugby President hailed Uganda for putting up an extraordinary tournament, terming it “Perhaps the greatest and best ever in Africa.”
“Thank You. Uganda delivered admirably,” said the Ghanaian business mogul.
The 2025 Rugby Africa Cup featured eight of the continent’s top teams: Hosts Uganda, Namibia, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
They competed in a knockout tournament for the African spot at the Rugby World Cup, Algeria getting the better of Kenya in the bronze match.
Senegal finished 5th after beating Morocco in the fifth-place playoff match as Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire finished 7th and 8th respectively.
Namibia may not have claimed the crown, but they walk away with heads held high, and are set to take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday July 26, 2025 in Uganda for Asia/Africa play-off.
The winner will get a nod to play at a qualification tournament between 8-18 November, 2025 in Dubai, the play-off comprising one pool of four teams, playing in a round-robin format with the winner qualifying for Australia 2027.
Sudamérica Rugby Championship 2025 third place, South America/Pacific play-off loser, Rugby Europe Men’s Championship 2025 fifth place and Africa/Asia play-off winner (Rugby Africa Men’s Cup 2025 runner-up v Asia Rugby Men’s Championship runner-up) will produce the four teams for the final qualification.
Namibia will be out to book a World Cup spot for the 8th time, after featuring in the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 editions.
