Another great feather for SA

South Africa has gotten not just another feather, but a great one, for its cap.

According to Jurie Roux, SA Rugby CEO, “It’s a great feather in our cap to once again be selected to host a rugby major tournament. We are very proud that both World Rugby and Rugby Africa are consistently using SA Rugby to host tournaments and are delighted to be part of the growth of the women’s game in the world.”

The tournament in question this time is the inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series for women which will hold at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch from 28-29 March 2020, and twelve teams from all six World Rugby regions will compete for a coveted place as a core team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2021 season.

Apart from SA, the other nations in action are Argentina, Belgium, China, Colombia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland and Scotland.

Speaking further, Roux said, “We hosted the very successful Africa Women’s RWC Qualifiers Tournament last year, as well as the Africa Olympic Qualifiers for sevens.”

Mark Alexander, SA Rugby president, said, “We are thrilled to be hosting the inaugural HSBC Sevens Challenger Series event for women and grateful to World Rugby for the opportunity.

“This tournament will provide our enthusiastic supporters with yet another opportunity to see top female sevens athletes in action, something we experienced for the first time last year at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens.”

South Africa was selected as host following the ground-breaking women’s World Rugby High Performance Academy which took place at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport in May 2019 and the recent success of having the Springbok Women’s Sevens team play as an invitational team at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens in December.

The Sevens Challenger Series is a new competition designed to boost rugby sevens’ development across the globe.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “The launch of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series for both women and men is an important milestone moment for the development of rugby sevens around the globe.

“Sevens has seen dynamic growth in interest and fan engagement since making its hugely successful Olympic debut at Rio 2016, and it is right to launch the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in a pivotal year for rugby sevens ahead of the spotlight shone by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“The new Sevens Challenger Series will help to develop the next generation of players and bring international sevens events to new nations, further growing its popularity around the world and underscoring our commitment to be a sport for all.”

The tournament format will see the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four teams that will compete towards a grand final where the winner gains core team status on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021, replacing the bottom placed core team at the end of this season and providing a clear and consistent pathway for teams to progress and play against the world’s best.