The 29th edition of the Howard Hinton 7s for the calendar year 2026 was worked off from 29th-31st of May 2026 at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher, Tours, France.
The tournament featured over 2,200 players from across the globe, representing 150 teams across Elite, Open, U-18 and Women’s categories bringing in over ten thousand spectators across the weekend.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles (UBB) Sevens emerged champions of the Elite Men’s category, claiming maximum points and laying down a strong marker for the rest of the French Sevens season. They breezed through the group stage and found a way through some tricky fixtures in the knockout round before beating Sevens Sud Garonne 14-7 in a tense final.
The Sri Lankan National team, added global flavour to this year’s edition while also gaining valuable experience as they target podium finishes at the Asian Games as well the Asia Emirates Sevens Series, one leg of which they will play at home.
The Tuskers showed promise in their group games but fell short against SCA Sevens (26-07) and Monaco Rugby (17-07).
The Srinath Sooriyabandara led side narrowly missed out on the bowl segment, bowing out 24-19 to Mauritius in the Bowl Qualifier. They eventually got their first win of the tournament in the Shield Semi-Final, beating Euskadi Sevens 22-15.
However, the Tuskers saved their best for last as they played out a nail biting Shield Final against Seven PYLA, overcoming a 21-07 deficit at lemons to win 28-21 and clinch the Shield Championship.
This exposure, along with their recent win at the CASA Sevens concludes an invaluable round of preparation for the Sri Lankan National Sevens side, as they firmly set their sights on bigger targets.
