Missing Emirates Dubai 7s already?! (We certainly are!)

Fear not, as we are lucky enough to be welcoming another 24 international rugby sevens teams to Dubai in just a few weeks time as we host the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger tournament 12-14th January 2024. 

12 women's and 12 men's teams will be competing at The Sevens Stadium for their chance to be promoted into the next HSBC SVNS series. 

All games will be completely free for spectators across Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 11am – 9pm each day. Matches will take place on Pitch 2, with bars and food outlets open at the stadium for rugby fans to enjoy another weekend out with friends and family, soaking up the atmosphere and exhilarating games.

About the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series:

• The World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger provides a promotion pathway to HSBC SVNS 2025
• Top four placed men’s and women’s teams will secure their place in the new promotion and relegation play-off competition at the HSBC SVNS 2024 Grand Final in Madrid
• The 12-team men’s and women’s competition formats replicate the Olympic Games with three pools of four teams each
• The 2024 Challenger runs from January to May and features combined men’s and women’s events in Dubai, UAE and Montevideo, Uruguay before standalone events in Germany and Poland for men and women respectively
• All six World Rugby regions represented in competition designed to boost the global development of rugby sevens

The Challenger competition provides a clear promotion pathway to reach the pinnacle HSBC SVNS in 2025, with the top four placed men’s and women’s teams from the 2024 Challenger, based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the third round, securing their opportunity to compete in the new high stakes relegation play-off competition at the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid on 31 May-2 June, 2024 against the teams ranked ninth to 12th from HSBC SVNS 2024.

Four successful nations from this Grand Final play-off will secure their place in HSBC SVNS 2025, while the other four teams will compete in their regional qualification tournaments to earn the right to compete in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025.  

UAE Pool Draw:

The pool draw for the UAE leg of the tournament, which took place during the HSBC SVNS 2024 opening round in Dubai 2-3 December, produced some exciting match-ups. Three teams in the men’s competition – Uruguay, Japan and Kenya – have already booked their places at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and they headline Pools A, B and C respectively. All teams qualified for the Challenger 2024 through regional competitions.

Men’s pools:

Pool A: Uruguay, Hong Kong China, Papua New Guinea, Georgia
Pool B: Japan, Tonga, Chile, Portugal
Pool C: Kenya, Germany, Uganda, Mexico

Women’s pools:

Pool A: Belgium, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Uganda
Pool B: China, Czechia, Mexico, Kenya
Pool C: Poland, Hong Kong China, Paraguay, Argentina

Full schedule: 

More information can be found here. And follow @TheSevensStadium on Instagram for further updates.