The race to qualify from the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 took a potentially decisive turn in Montevideo this weekend as Uruguay’s men and China’s women emerged victorious on Sunday.
Hosts Uruguay completed a remarkable comeback at Estadio Charrúa on Sunday, beating Hong Kong China 28-0 in the men’s Cup final having only made it through to the quarter-finals as one of the two best third-placed finishers in the pool stage.
The men’s third-place play-off was a repeat of the Dubai final as Kenya faced the Chile team they edged to the Cup title at The Sevens Stadium in January. Once again it was Kenya who came out on top with a 31-12 victory.
Earlier on Sunday, Germany made sure of fifth place in the men’s tournament with a 10-7 defeat of Uganda that maintains their place in the top four on points difference from Hong Kong China.
Victory means Uruguay’s Los Teros Sevens have 36 points from a possible 40 following two men’s tournaments, level with Kenya at the top of the standings and crucially 10 points clear of the beaten finalists in fifth with round to play in Munich (18-19 May).
China, meanwhile, made it two women’s Cup titles from two with a 38-7 defeat of Argentina in the showpiece women’s match.
Belgium dusted themselves down from their semi-final disappointment against Argentina to end their tournament on a high with an impressive 29-12 defeat of Uganda in the women’s third-place play-off.
The Chinese head into the final women’s tournament of the 2024 Challenger Series in Krakow between 18-19 May with a perfect 40 points from 40 and a healthy 16-point lead over fifth-placed Kenya.
Earlier on Sunday, Germany made sure of fifth place in the men’s tournament with a 10-7 defeat of Uganda that maintains their place in the top four on points difference from Hong Kong China.
Tonga, meanwhile, are eight points adrift of Germany in the overall standings following their 28-17 seventh-place play-off victory against Portugal. Georgia finished ninth in Montevideo, beating Japan 17-12 on day three, while Papua New Guinea won the 11th-place play-off 47-12 against Mexico.
In the women’s tournament, Poland maintained their hopes of finishing in the top four with a 28-17 defeat of Thailand in the fifth-place play-off. They will begin their home tournament in Krakow six points outside the qualification places in sixth.
Hong Kong China kept up their own slim chances of a top four place with an impressive 27-22 defeat of Kenya in the seventh-place play-off, while Paraguay beat Czechia 10-7 to finish ninth and Mexico edged Papua New Guinea 19-12 in the 11th-place play-off.
Following ecstatic celebrations with fans on the pitch for the trophy lift, Uruguay captain Diego Ardao said: “We are happy. It was a difficult weekend. We started badly but we knew that from quarter-finals onwards, every game was a final and we knew how to win it.
“I think all of our focus and our concentration was on doing the immediate, we got better with each match and that was noticeable as our best game was in the final.
“I am very grateful to the people that came these three days to support us, for their singing and for sharing the joy with us.
From now, it is upwards. We can’t let go, we must continue pushing. We know that they will come after us in Munich. We will adjust and continue growing.”
Following the conclusion of the final round of action in Krakow and Munich, the top four in both the men’s and women’s standings will qualify for a standalone promotion-relegation tournament against the bottom four teams from HSBC SVNS 2024.
Four men’s and four women’s teams will emerge from those tournaments in Madrid to complete the line-up for HSBC SVNS 2025.
The Challenger was introduced in February 2020 to boost the development of rugby sevens across the globe and provide a clear promotion pathway to reach the top level of global rugby sevens for the short format of the game which has experienced huge growth over the past two decades since the introduction of the global sevens series and becoming an Olympic sport at the Rio 2016 Games.
The bigger and better than ever 2024 edition of the Challenger kicked off with a combined men’s and women’s event at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on 12-14 January, followed by this weekend’s second round at Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo before standalone women’s and men’s events at Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow, Poland and Dantestadion in Munich, Germany respectively on 18-19 May.
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