3 minute read

A new international rugby sevens competition will introduce promotion and relegation to the World Rugby Seven Series.

The new World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series will introduce promotion and relegation to the World Rugby Seven Series.

The new men's series will be launched in February 2020 to boost rugby sevens' development across the globe, and will feature 13 core teams from the six World Rugby regions who will compete over two rounds alongside three invitational teams.

Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Zimbabwe will compete in the inaugural 2020 competition, alongside three invitational teams from the Americas in Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay.

The top eight core teams after the two rounds will then compete in the final playoff tournament for a spot in the World Rugby Sevens Series, replacing the bottom placed core team in the series in the following season.

The Australia men's rugby sevens team are currently ranked eighth out of 16 teams in the World Rugby Seven Series.

A separate announcement for the women's Challenger Series will be made in due course.