World Rugby to launch 7s Challenger Series

World Rugby will be launching the Sevens Challenger Series in February.

The men’s and women’s 7s Challenger Series is aimed at developing the next generation of 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.

The teams who will compete in the 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series are Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

They will be joined by three invitational teams from the Americas in Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay.

The final playoff tournament will be hosted alongside the HSBC Hong Kong Sevens leg on April 3-5, 2020.

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 Sevens Series, replacing the bottom placed core team in the World Series in the following season.

This promotion and relegation system will provide a clear development pathway for the teams.

By Nacanieli Tuilevuka