Top 5 Sevens Rugby Tournaments To Look Forward To In 2024

2024 is looking like a bumper year for Sevens Rugby, marked by the Paris Olympics, but also several HSBC SVNS tournaments, the Challenger Series, with Asian tournaments marking anniversaries. So here is our top 5 sevens rugby tournaments taking place in 2024.

Paris 2024 Olympics –  Sevens Rugby

The big prize in sevens rugby will return for the third time, after debuting in Rio in 2016 before being played under restricted conditions due to the global pandemic in Tokyo in 2020. The men’s side has been dominated by Fiji, while Australia and New Zealand women have each won gold at the Olympics.

Rugby Sevens actually kicks off the Games Paris 2024 and there will be double sessions daily for the women and men, which is nearly sold out indicating a strong enthusiasm for the Games. The hosts are also buoyed by the news that French XV talisman Antoine Dupont will attempt to make the squad, while former Wallabies captain Micheal Hooper is trying the same for the Aussie Men’s 7s team.

In total, 12 men’s and women’s teams will be in action with the final spot for each still to be determined, and the NZ women and Fiji men will be looking to defend their coveted gold medals.

The Japanese men and women have already qualified from Asia.

• Date: 24-30 July 2024
• Venue: Stade de France, Paris, France

Stade de France hosted the opening and closing of RWC 2023 in Paris, France and will host the Paris Olympic 2024 Sevens. (Photo by David Ramos – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Olympic Repechage Paris 2024 – Rugby 7s

Monaco will host the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Repechage tournament to determine the final women’s and men’s nations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The venue was used for the same purpose before the two previous Olympic Games.

Asia is represented by the Hong Kong China women and men, and the Chinese women and men, but among the 24 teams there are some serious challengers to qualify. The men’s repechage teams for example include South Africa’s Blitzboks and core HSBC SVNS teams Canada, Great Britain, and Spain.

• Date: 21-23 June 2024
• Venue:Stade Louis II, Monaco

Challenger Sevens Series 2024

The Challenger Sevens Series 2024 features several Asian contenders (China women, Thai women, Japanese men, and HKCR women and men) and the 3-leg series also opens in Dubai – the only Asian venue for the Series.

The three rounds will be played across three continents between January and May 2024, and only the first two legs feature the women and men at the same venue but the third leg will be held separately. The formats follow the Olympic and SVNS Series – with 12 teams drawn into three pools of four.

At the conclusion of the three legs, the top four teams from the Challenger Series will head to the Grand Final in Madrid from 31 May to 2 June 2024 and be joined by the SVNS Series teams ranked ninth to 12th for a qualification and relegation round.

Dubai, UAE gets the Challenger Series 2024 underway in mid-January and the pools have been drawn.

• Dubai, UAE – 12-14 January (men and women)
• Montevideo, Uruguay – 8-10 March 2024 (men and women)
• Krakow, Poland – 18-19 May, 2024 (women)
• Munich, Germany – 18-19 May, 2024 (men)

Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2024

All 24 teams on the SVNS Series are looking forward to returning to the most iconic Sevens Tournament of them all – with the women making their debut at the Hong Kong Stadium in 2023, the NZ women beating Australia in the final, and the NZ 7s men also triumphant by edging out the fancied Fijians who usually get huge support in the Asian city.

NZ fans will be looking to back their teams again in 2024 and have instant withdrawals provided for Kiwis.

It will be a particularly special Sevens in Hong Kong for several reasons; the usual array of a busy leadup of events including charitable dinners, long lunches and other events featuring the teams and former players, the return of the pre-Sevens tournaments (Kowloon RugbyFest 2024, HKFC Tens, and the All Girls Rugby Sevens 2024), it will also be the final tournament at the stadium and the last while current Hong Kong China Rugby CEO Robbie McRobbie is still at the helm.

The 30th anniversary of the HK Sevens will be celebrated by a (hopefully) capacity 40,00 strong sell-out crowd from 5-7 April before the event moves to the new Kai Tak Sports Park in 2025.

The organisers have also had approval to run a simultaneous mini Asian pool in between the main SVNS games, which will feature HKCR men’s and women’s sevens teams, as well as the Japan and China men, and Thailand and China women.

• Date: 5-7 April 2024
• Venue: Hong Kong Stadium

Hong Kong’s Mba Oyana Julia Mibuy takes a selfie with fans on day one of the Cathay/ HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at Hong Kong Stadium on 31 March, 2023 in Hong Kong, China. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

Singapore SVNS 2024

The new look HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular-season events with the women playing in Singapore for the first time in May 2024 alongside the men.

In 2023, the New Zealand Men’s Sevens were victorious with the HSBC Singapore Sevens 2023 win securing their place at the Paris Olympics 2024.

With the new approach to the SVNS format, it will be interesting to hear how the leg in Singapore will be re-imagined as the other legs are targeting the 24-40-year-old category which is counter to the usual family-friendly tournament branding of recent years.

• Date: 3-5 May 2024
• Venue: Singapore National Stadium

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