The Kenya Rugby Union Women’s 10 Aside Festival is set to light up the RFUEA Grounds on 31st January 2026. Designed to nurture competition and growth, the festival brings together both emerging sides and well established teams on one stage, offering a vibrant showcase of the rising strength of women’s rugby in Kenya.
This festival is a key pillar of the Kenya Rugby Union development department’s wider mission to spread the women’s game and establish clear and sustainable development pathways for female players. Beyond the results on the pitch, the tournament stands as a statement of intent, reinforcing the Union’s commitment to inclusivity, opportunity and long term growth of the sport among women.
The competition will begin with the pool stages before progressing to the plate semi finals and the main cup semi finals. From there, teams will battle through the plate finals as well as the third and fourth place playoff, all leading to the grand finale of the day, the main cup final, where the tournament champions will be crowned.
A total of ten teams have registered for the festival and have been divided into two evenly balanced pools of five teams each. Pool A features Mwamba Women, Quins Queens, NYS Spades, Pioneer Gilgil and Muranga Ladies. Pool B is made up of Northern Suburbs, Blad Babes, NYS Scorpions, Kiamba Ladies and Kisii University.
The games will kick off at 9:00 AM with the pool matches, setting the tone for a full day of compelling rugby. The final whistle of the tournament is scheduled for 5:50 PM when the champions will be decided in the main cup final. Significantly, this festival will also act as a pace setter for the 2026 Kenya Cup Women League, which is slated to begin on 7th February 2026, giving teams a valuable competitive benchmark ahead of the XV`s season.
