World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series

The World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby that includes men's and women's events. Sponsored by banking group HSBC, it is the second tier of competition below the World Rugby Sevens Series. Teams on the respective men's and women's tours of the Challenger Series compete for promotion to the first tier as a core team.[1][2]

HSBC Sevens Challenger Series
Recent seasons:
2022 Men's Series
2022 Women's Series
SportRugby sevens
Inaugural season2020 (2020)
No. of teams12 (men's)
12 (women's)
Most recent
champion(s)		 Uruguay (2022 Men)
 Japan (2022 Women)
Most titlesMen
 Japan (1 title)
 Uruguay (1 title)
Women
 Japan (1 title)
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toWorld Series (men's)
World Series (women's)

The inaugural men's tour for the Challenger Series in 2020 featured events in Chile and Uruguay.[1][3] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby postponed the final event in Hong Kong until October 2020.[4][5]

The women's tournament for the Challenger Series in the 2020 season was announced as a stand-alone event hosted in South Africa.[6] On 13 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby postponed the Challenger Series women's event without rescheduling a future date.[7] Subsequently, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan was awarded promotion to the Men's World Rugby Sevens Series as the overall points leader in the Challenger Series. However, no women's team was promoted.[8]

Teams

The 12 men's teams and 12 women's teams expected to compete at the 2023 Challenger Series.

Men's teams

Women's teams

Seasons
2020 logo

2020
Further information: 2020 Men's series and 2020 Women's series

The first season of the challenger series was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with the 2020 women's tour to South Africa being cancelled altogether and the men's final knock-out event planned for Hong Kong also cancelled.[9][4]

The 2020 men's tour was played over two rounds hosted in Chile and Uruguay.[3] Japan, as the top-placed team on the standings after the two completed events, was awarded the Challenger Series title and promoted to the World Rugby Sevens Series as a core team for the 2020–21 season.[9]

2022
Further information: 2022 Men's series and 2022 Women's series

The second season of the Challenger Series was played as a single tournament on 12–14 August 2022 in Santiago, Chile at the Estadio Santa Laura,[10] with the men's and women's winners gaining promotion as core teams on the World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2022–23 season.[11]

2023

The third season of the Challenger Series will be played over two rounds on 20–22 and 28–30 April in Stellenbosch, South Africa at the Markotter Stadium,[12] with the men's winners gaining qualification to the 2023 core team qualifier event in London, the women's winners will gain qualification as a core team on the World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2023–24 season.[13]

Historical results

Results by season – Men

Summary of the top six placegetters for each series:

Series Season Rds Champion Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Ref
I 2020 2
Japan
Hong Kong
Germany
Chile
Uruguay
Tonga		 [14]
II 2022 1
Uruguay
Georgia
Chile
Germany
Hong Kong
Uganda		 [15]
III 2023 2 To be determined

Participation History – Men

Team
2020
2022
2023
 Belgium NQ Q
 Brazil 15th NQ Q
 Chile 4th 3rd Q
 Colombia 13th NQ
 Georgia NQ 2nd NQ
 Germany 3rd 4th Q
 Hong Kong 2nd 5th Q
 Italy 9th NQ Q
 Jamaica 10th Q
 Japan 1st World Series
 Lithuania NQ 9th NQ
 Mexico 14th NQ
 Papua New Guinea 11th Q
 Paraguay 16th NQ
 Portugal 12th NQ
 South Korea NQ 12th Q
 Tonga 6th 7th Q
 Uganda 7th 6th Q
 Uruguay 5th 1st World Series
 Zimbabwe 8th Q

Results by season – Women

Summary of the top six placegetters for each series:

Series Season Rds Champion Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Ref
— 2020 Cancelled [14]
I 2022 1
Japan
Poland
China
Kenya
Kazakhstan
Belgium		 [15]
II 2023 2 To be determined

Participation History - Women

Team
2020
2022
2023
 Argentina Cancelled 7th NQ
 Belgium 6th Q
 Chile NQ 10th NQ
 China Cancelled 3rd Q
 Colombia 8th Q
 Czechia NQ Q
 Hong Kong NQ Q
 Japan Cancelled 1st World Series
 Kazakhstan 5th NQ
 Kenya 4th NQ
 Madagascar NQ Q
 Mexico Cancelled 12th Q
 Paraguay NQ Q
 Papua New Guinea Cancelled 11th Q
 Poland 2nd Q
 Scotland NQ World Series as Great Britain
 South Africa 9th Q
 Thailand NQ Q

References
  1. "World Rugby launches Sevens Challenger Series". SportBusiness. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020.
  2. Nelson, Adam (12 February 2020). "World Rugby unveils inaugural women's HSBC Sevens Challenger Series event". Sport Business. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020.
  3. "New Challenger Series to boost rugby sevens' expansion". World Rugby. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. "World Rugby update on COVID-19 response measures and statement from Sir Bill Beaumont". World Rugby. 20 March 2020.
  5. "World Rugby Statement: Singapore and Hong Kong Sevens rescheduled". World.Rugby. 13 February 2020.
  6. "Sport: PNG to feature in women's Sevens Challenger Series". Radio New Zealand. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  7. "World Rugby Statement: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series postponed". World Rugby. 13 March 2020.
  8. "Plans revised for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021". World Rugby. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  9. "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". Asia Rugby. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020.
  10. "Sevens Challenger Series 2022 | World Rugby".
  11. "Teams aim for promotion at World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile - HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series".
  12. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 schedule announced | World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  13. worldrugby.org. "Sevens Challenger Series 2022 | World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  14. "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". Asia Rugby. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020.
  15. "Teams aim for promotion at World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile". world.rugby. World Rugby. 13 July 2022.
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