The opening round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024, takes place at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai from tomorrow over three days.
There is more to play for than ever before in this year’s Challenger with the competition expanded to three rounds and the top four placed men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the new promotion and relegation play-off competition at the HSBC SVNS 2024 Grand Final in Madrid.
The 12-team men’s and women’s competition format replicates the Olympic Games with three pools of four teams each.The Challenger runs from January to May with men’s and women’s combined events in Dubai, UAE and Montevideo, Uruguay before standalone events in Germany and Poland.
Three teams in the Men’s competition – Uruguay, Japan and Kenya – have already booked their places at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and they headline Pools A, B and C respectively.
All teams qualified for the Challenger 2024 through regional competitions.
Men’s pools:
Pool A: Uruguay, Hong Kong China, Papua New Guinea, Georgia
Pool B: Japan, Tonga, Chile, Portugal
Pool C: Kenya, Germany, Uganda, Mexico
Women’s pools:
Pool A: Belgium, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Uganda
Pool B: China, Czechia, Mexico, Kenya
Pool C: Poland, Hong Kong China, Paraguay, Argentina
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger 2024 dates:
Dubai, UAE – 12-14 January
Montevideo, Uruguay – 8-10 March
Krakow, Poland – 18-19 May
Munich, Germany –18-19 May
