World Rugby to launch World Rugby 7s Challenger Series in February next year

World Rugby will be launching a new and exciting international rugby 7s competition, the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series, in February next year.

The Men’s and Women’s 7s Challenger Series is aimed at developing the next generation of rugby players.

The Men’s series will feature 13 core teams from the six World Rugby regions who will compete over two rounds alongside three invitational teams.

Teams that will compete in the 2020 Men’s World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series are Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay.

The final play-off tournament will be hosted alongside the Hong Kong 7s event in April next year.

The top eight core teams after the two rounds will then compete in the final playoff tournament for a spot in the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series, replacing the bottom placed core team in the World Series in the next rugby 7s season.

This promotion and relegation system will provide a clear and consistent development pathway for teams to shine at the highest level of rugby sevens.

The two legs of the inaugural World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series will be played in South America in Viña del Mar, Chile on the 15th and 16th of February and Montevideo, Uruguay on the 22nd and 23rd of February next year.

A separate announcement for the women’s Challenger Series will be made in due course.

Meanwhile, the Fiji Airways 7s Team will arrive in the country today after participating in Dubai and Cape Town.

Fiji Men’s Team now sits in 6th place with 23 points, 18 points difference with series leaders New Zealand and South Africa.

Fijiana 7s Team sits in 8th spot with 20 points.

The next tournament is the Hamilton 7s which will be held on the 25th and 26th of January next year.

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