~ It took until the 90th and final match of the three-tournament HSBC SVNS 2 Series to decide the final team in the three-tournament HSBC SVNS World Championship Series.
"VAN" (Sports Desk - 30.03.2026) :: The women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2 Series tournaments in Sao Paulo went to the wire, as hosts Brazil and Belgium thrilled the crowd on the road to the titles, while As Yaras and Uruguay claimed the two outstanding places in the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series, which kicks off in Hong Kong in April.
Heading into the third and final HSBC SVNS 2 Series tournament, Brazil’s chances of overtaking China and claiming the final ticket for the season-ending tri-tournament World Championships seemed remote. In the end, that and the Sao Paulo title were the twin prizes at stake for Brazil and Kenya in the closing match of the weekend and it was the home nation who came out on top to take both.
On the men’s side of the draw, Uruguay’s hard-fought victory over determined Belgium in the opening game of day two bagged the South Americans the final qualification spot. But Belgian disappointment at missing out on double promotion after moving up from HSBC SVNS 3 was tempered when Kenya’s win over Uruguay in the penultimate match of the men’s tournament handed them the Sao Paulo title, courtesy of their 14-12 day one win over the African nation.
Player of the tournament, Belgium’s Ryan Godsmark, told Rugbypass TV he hoped the weekend performance in South America would inspire players back home. “[I’m] really pleased, firstly with the result for the team and what we’ve achieved,” he said. “It’s the cherry on top to be identified as the player of the tournament, but there’s a lot of individuals who played well and put their hand up - I think I’m just the lucky one to be selected!”
He said that a change in mindset prompted the turnaround in performances in Brazil, after a difficult run in Nairobi and Montevideo following Belgium’s promotion from HSBC SVNS 3. “It started off real tough because it’s a totally different level, we weren’t used to it. There was a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves as a group.
“This week we just totally changed that. We’re fully amateur, we’re here to enjoy ourselves. A lot of us are taking time off work just to be here, so we really made that an emphasis for us to have a good time, and that changes everything. We take pleasure when we play. I hope it can be some sort of launching pad, because we’ve got some huge talent in Belgium.”
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