Teams seek promotion at the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile
The captains of the twelve and twelve women’s teams that will compete in the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile met August 12-14 on Wednesday in Santiago’s Parque Metropolitano in front of the majestic Andes mountain range.
- The 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series will be held in Santiago, Chile, from August 12-14
- Winners of the Men’s Championship and the Women’s Championship will be promoted to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023
- Twelve women’s teams and 12 teams representing the six regions compete in the Rugby World Championships at Santa Laura Stadium in three days of pure excitement.
- The competition format includes three groups of four teams, a repeat of those used in the Olympic Games
- The event kicks off at 10:45 (GMT-4) on Friday 12 August, with the final to take place on Sunday 14 August.
The captains of the twelve and twelve women’s teams that will compete in the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile met August 12-14 on Wednesday in Santiago’s Parque Metropolitano in front of the majestic Andes mountain range.
The intense three-day competition will begin at the Santa Laura stadium in the Chilean capital on Friday at 10:45 local time (4 GMT) when Kazakhstan and Colombia advance to the field of play for Group C.
The grand prize at stake for the tournament winners is an upgrade to HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023.
The Challenger Series was introduced in 2020 to drive the development of the Rugby Sevens around the world and provide a path for promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Japan was the first men’s winner, and after a year off due to the global pandemic, the Challenge Series returned with a separate joint event.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHALLENGER SERIES >>
The international event features teams from all six world rugby regions represented in a competition format that repeats those used in the Olympic Games with three groups of four.
The top two teams from each group along with the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals, followed by the semi-finals and finals that will determine the tournament winners on Sunday.
In the men’s tournament, for Group A, hosts Chile face South Korea, Papua New Guinea and Georgia. In Group B, Hong Kong plays with Tonga, Jamaica and Zimbabwe, while a strong team from Germany, who put in an impressive performance as a wild card in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in 2021 and 2022, is in Group C with Lithuania. , Uruguay and Uganda, who all impressed at the recent Commonwealth Games as they drew with Australia in a lively team match.
In the women’s competition, hosts Chile are in Group D, where they will face China, Kenya and South Africa, who played as a wild card in the final event of the 2022 series in Toulouse in May.
Poland and Belgium, who have played very well in the 2022 series events in Malaga and Seville, will play in Group E alongside Argentina and Papua New Guinea. Japan has plenty of experience in the series, even playing at Langford this year, and will face Kazakhstan, Colombia and Mexico in Group F.
Our goal is to go step by step in this tournament and play good matches against strong teams, as well as to be able to win the tournament and reach the 2023 Rugby World Championships,” Chile captain Joaquin Huichi said.
Karolina Jaszczyn, captain of Poland, said: “It was a great experience for the Polish team to compete in the series events in Spain earlier this year. We have grown both physically and mentally, and this experience has helped us qualify for the Rugby Sevens World Cup.
“We have been playing rugby well lately and we want to try and win here, but there are also a lot of strong teams like China and Japan who have more experience of playing in the world championship than us. We will do everything to make our dreams come true.”
Ugandan men’s captain Michel Okorash said: “The Commonwealth Games was a very good experience for Uganda. We know how to get the fans on our side and it was amazing what we experienced there. We should have won that game against Australia, we played very well, but we We drew. It was a good preparation. We came to Chile as a much better team.”
“The feeling in the group is good and the players are ready. It is a tournament we have been looking forward to for a long time, as we have been looking to enter the series for a while. If we win this weekend, it will be a big change for Ugandan rugby as it will open more doors for funding.”
Gisele Castaneda, Chile women’s captain, said: “The challenge is a unique opportunity to play matches with teams that have a lot of experience in the series. Playing in your country, being at home, gives you extra energy and motivation. The family watching the games is going to be so amazing, it will be a great experience.” .
Max Denmark, captain of the Hong Kong team, said: “The tournament is unique, every match counts. We have made good preparations and are ready to start. We were very close to reaching the World Championship in the past; becoming a permanent team is really important to us. It’s great to play in front of our local fans in Hong Kong in November already as a team from the series.”
“We don’t often get the chance to play against the best teams in the world, so we take every opportunity to learn, improve and gain experience for the future,” said Lesky Latigan, South African women’s team captain.
Guillermo Lijtenstein, vice-captain for Uruguay’s men’s team, said: “Our focus is to be able to put Uruguay in the series. It’s the great goal of a team that has worked so hard. Qualifying means competing with the best team of Sevens, Formula 1 Rugby Sevens. It would be incredible.” .
The men’s first challenge series saw two rounds, both played in South America in 2020. The Japanese men’s team won the promotion after running both events. This year will be the women’s Challenger Series debut, after the first women’s Challenger Series, planned for March 2020 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, took place due to the pandemic.
There is a lot of experience and a high standard in the squad, with nine men’s teams previously participating in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series as base cards. China and Japan have been regulars in the women’s series, while eight other women’s teams have played at least once in the series.
Five of Chile’s women’s and nine men’s teams competing have also qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens, where they will play in front of a crowd of more than 165,000 fans over three days in Cape Town from September 9-11.
“The Rugby Sevens World Challenge Series is a vital component of our ambitious plans to further develop the sport around the world,” said Nigel Cass, Director of World Rugby Competition and Performance, Nigel Cass. Three days will be intense from start to finish.”
“Rugby Sevens is a major driver of global growth for our sport, particularly in emerging nations, and remains one of the top priorities of global rugby. After the spectacular Olympic competition in Tokyo last year, which captured the imaginations of many new fans around the world, the game continues Rugby is expanding and captivating audiences with its dynamic, skillful and exciting nature.”
The schedule for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023 has been confirmed with the men’s teams kicking off in Hong Kong on November 4-6, 2022, while the women’s competition kicks off in Dubai on December 2-3 as part of a joint event.
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