The 2023 Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship will be held at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane from 10-12 November.
The Minister for Tourism, Sports and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement, Stirling Hinchliffe revealed that Queensland is Australia’s sporting events capital and hosting the Oceania Sevens Championship further enhances their global reputation on the runway to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Palaszczuk Government’s investment of $15 million into the redevelopment of Ballymore has contributed to increased spectator capacity, a state-of-the-art training base and other facilities so that we can bring more world-class sporting events to Queensland.
“The Oceania Sevens, a key event on the World Rugby calendar, will bring thousands of fans to Brisbane with many staying on beyond the three-day Championships to explore the region, injecting around $3 million into the visitor economy,” Hinchliffe said in a statement.
Ballymore is also an Olympic venue for the 2032 Brisbane Games with Rugby Sevens a gold medal-winning Olympic sport for Australia.
The 2023 Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship will feature 25 teams – 15 men’s and 10 women’s teams from 14 countries in the region participating.
18 teams will be vying for Olympic qualification. The top-placed men’s and the top-placed women’s teams in the Olympic qualification sections of the 2023 Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The tournament draws will comprise both an International (pre-qualified Paris 2024 and non–IOC teams) and an Olympic section (teams vying for Paris 2024 qualification) and will be played concurrently over three days.
The women’s Olympic section of the tournament will feature American Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu all vying for the sole qualification spot to Paris 2024.
The Men’s Olympic section will see these national teams and others battle it out for a final spot joining Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand in Paris.
The Men’s International section will feature arguably the world’s premier sevens teams with Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand pooled together with Niue and the Oceania invitational team.
This year’s edition of the Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship will see the American Samoa women’s team make their International Sevens debut.
A total of 66 matches (35 men’s and 31 women’s matches) will be played across three days of competition.
The tournament draw will be released on 18 October 2023.
