2023 World Sevens Series
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Details of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 have been announced with a pair of three-day combined men’s and women’s events taking place at Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 20-22 and 28-30 April, 2023.
The winner of the 12-team women’s Challenger Series will gain the ultimate prize of automatic promotion to the Sevens World Series 2024 – the pinnacle of international rugby sevens.
The 12 women’s teams competing are Belgium, China, Colombia, Czechia, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and a team from South America yet to be confirmed.
The winner of the men’s Challenger Series, which also features 12 teams, will enter a four team play-off at the HSBC London Sevens in May 2023 together with the teams placed 12th-14th after ten rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with the winner of the play-off achieving Sevens World Series 2024 status.
The 12 men teams are Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The teams qualified via their ranking positions within their relevant regional competitions and the pool draw will take place once the full team line-ups are confirmed in early 2023.
The tournament replicates the Olympic Games competition format, with the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four. The top two from each as well as the two best third-placed finishers will qualify for the knockout stages with quarter-finals and semi-finals leading to the bronze and gold medal matches.
Bold bit: so that's how they are going to reduce the number of men's core nations from 16 to 12 (as announced a few weeks ago).
World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 schedule announced | World Rugby
Details of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 have been announced with a pair of three-day combined men’s and women’s events taking place at Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 20-22 and 28-30 April, 2023
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The schedule for the Hamilton Sevens (21-22 January 2023) has been released.
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@Stargazer thanks. This schedule is gosh awful. I have tickets and they will be long days and a bit of hopping between fields. Might have changed where I was sitting if I knew the huge mess the schedule creates.
What on earth are they thinking with the changes for this series? -
@ARHS said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@Stargazer thanks. This schedule is gosh awful. I have tickets and they will be long days and a bit of hopping between fields. Might have changed where I was sitting if I knew the huge mess the schedule creates.
What on earth are they thinking with the changes for this series?I was seriously considering going and gutted I missed out, looking at that mess - not so much now
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@Stargazer said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@ARHS Not sure what you mean with "mess". Is Fred Jones Park far from the stadium?
What's different?
I hate the two fields thing when you pay for a seat and it is busy and people keep getting up and down and obstructing your view. This takes it to another level.
Did initially think they meant Beetham Park FJ which would have been quite ridiculous. But it is still quite a hike to get to the second ground when your amenities are the far side of the stand on the other side.
Some of the timings are horrid. The matches stagger across grounds with no consistency. Some start aligned and some halfway through. The clash at 1.20 on second day could be an issue if a popular team does not qualify for the mens Cup. And if you want to watch the men's or womens primarily then you are screwed too.
I really like the formats used previously in Hong Kong Wellington and Hamilton and have been to a large number of sevens events over 40 years. The last 2 televised tournaments in 2022 infuriated me with all their breaks and missed matches and staggered timings. Made it hard for me to watch a bunch of selected matches. This schedule seems bound to have lots of people moving around both between and during matches and plenty of folks getting to their seats late.
In my view they have killed the simplicity of it all by squeezing in lots more matches regardless of the consequences. Play separate events or play 3 full days and a part day. Or limit to 12 teams for both.
I am not surprised that NZ is no longer a host if it has become this mickey mouse.
Just FYI I enjoy wandering between courts at Stanley St tennis to see as many players as possible. But those matches last 6 times longer or more. It does not suit sevens. -
@ARHS I remember this being the case, before. Definitely in Sydney and a few other tournaments. I assume it's all due to the fact that they want to play both the men's and women's tournaments on the same two days. They somehow refuse to play these tournaments on three days in some legs of the Series. But that isn't actually new. That started in the years before Covid. Fortunately, not all tournament legs use the same format.
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@Stargazer said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
@ARHS I remember this being the case, before. Definitely in Sydney and a few other tournaments. I assume it's all due to the fact that they want to play both the men's and women's tournaments on the same two days. They somehow refuse to play these tournaments on three days in some legs of the Series. But that isn't actually new. That started in the years before Covid. Fortunately, not all tournament legs use the same format.
Yep. Noted. But I don't recall it ever getting quite this messy. Maybe less teams or a third day when both played??
I am seeing it from the spectator experience this time. I expect two very long days with plenty of frustrations and me only venturing to FJ once on the weekend. I have a few favourite teams in both genders and suspect that planning which match I watch on knockouts day will become a huge pain. -
@mikedogz said in 2023 World Sevens Series:
Fred Jones is the field directly behind the main stand, the main field for Hamilton Old Boys. Beetham Park field that the All Blacks sometimes use is labelled Fred Jones on some maps.
Yeah, the Google maps labelling has always been wrong. Beetham has a really good playing surface as it was relayed for the football. They should be using that field as entry could be controlled. Fred Jones is a typical club field.
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@ARHS Up to and including the 2019 Hamilton Sevens, it was only a men's tournament. In 2019, they organised a Women's Fast Four, but that was all. Only the 2020 Hamilton Sevens was both a men's and women's tournament, but they made a change to the format to make a tournament on two days possible: only the first-placed team from each pool progressed to the Cup semis. All the other teams played one less qualification match. It was a weird and much-criticised format (althought the other changed format they tried in the 2019 South Africa tournament was equally unpopular, when they scratched the 5th and 7th place play-offs).
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@Stargazer yep thanks for confirming. I was there and enjoyed the fast 4 format. The other way was not great but this is far worse in my view.
I have done a lot of event scheduling, sometimes to accommodate streaming or TV. You look at the participant and spectator experience before you decide on an option from compromised choices. Sevens thrives on support from the sidelines to boost the players. And it is a great spectator experience to see it happening for lesser teams. Having so many matches on a second pitch without the stands will disappoint many. Surely the women have earned the right to have their own events or perhaps back to back events with the men over 3 days? Squeezing both into 2 days???
I am aware that a lot of folks are questioning World rugby on the major changes this year to 7s. A few teams will miss out as will some popular hosts. What on earth are they thinking? -
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Hamilton Sevens Draw (dates/times listed in NZDT)
Saturday 21 January 2023
10.16am: All Blacks Sevens v Tonga
11.44am: Black Ferns Sevens v Papua New Guinea
2.06pm: All Blacks Sevens v Australia
3.12pm: Black Ferns Sevens v Fiji
7.35pm: All Blacks Sevens v Great Britain
8.03pm: Black Ferns Sevens v Great Britain
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5 BF7s squad changes from Cape Town
BFs back in (Fluhler, Hirini, Fitzpatrick, Woodman-Wickliffe) along with Saili
Out: Brazier (injured), Te Tamiki, Teneti, Ikenasio, Nuku
Pretty much a massive strengthening even though the last squad won the last round.
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