The Kenya National Women’s Sevens Team, Lionesses, have been drawn against Scotland, Argentina and Colombia in Pool C of the inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series women’s event which will take place at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 28-29 March.
The standalone event will see 12 teams who have qualified from all six World Rugby regions competing to win a coveted core place on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2021 season.
The competing teams were drawn into three pools of four teams each. The draw sees Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualified China in Pool A together with hosts South Africa, Poland and Mexico.
Japan, who have made three guest appearances on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series already this campaign as part of their Olympic preparation take on Papua New Guinea, Kazakhstan and Belgium.
The Sevens Challenger Series is a new competition designed to boost rugby sevens’ development across the globe. The inaugural event in Stellenbosch is just the beginning for women’s participation on the Sevens Challenger Series, which will evolve to feature more rounds across the globe as it grows and develops in future years.
World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series participants Japan, China and Kenya have already qualified for Tokyo 2020, while Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Papua New Guinea will all take part in the Olympic repechage in June 2020 to try and secure their place at the 2020 Olympic Games.
With sevens experiencing dynamic growth in terms of both participation and fan engagement, World Rugby is aiming to develop the next generation of players and take rugby sevens to new nations, further growing the popularity and performance of sevens as we approach the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and beyond.
Rugby sevens’ hugely impactful debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games attracted an estimated 30 million new fans from around the world to the speed, skill and athleticism of rugby sevens, and with Tokyo 2020 on the horizon, the Sevens Challenger Series will help to prepare teams for the possibility of playing on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
