There will be 11 men’s Sevens rugby tournaments and seven women’s events, all beginning in December.
South Africa and New Zealand in action during their HSBC World Rugby Sevens match at the Cape Town Stadium on 13 December 2019. Picture: @WomenBoks/Twitter
World Rugby confirmed on Tuesday that the popular HSBC Cape Town Sevens will return to the Mother City after a three-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sevens action will take place on the weekend of 9-11 December 2022, when the best men’s and women’s sevens teams in the world will return to the DHL Stadium for the first time since 2019.
Along with the Cape Town Sevens the rest of the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events was announced, with 11 men’s tournaments – four of which will be standalone events – while all seven women’s events will be played alongside the men.
Both the Springbok Sevens and Springbok Women’s Sevens teams will be playing in Cape Town in December, with another sell-out crowd anticipated, while there is also a return to Hamilton in New Zealand and Sydney in Australia early next year.
“After missing out in the last three years, we are thrilled to see the HSBC Cape Town Sevens back on the schedule, and combined with the Rugby World Cup Sevens in September, it means local rugby fans will have another opportunity to experience some of the best entertainment available on the global rugby calendar,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
“Ever since we first hosted the South African leg of the World Series in Cape Town, it has become one of the most popular events, not only for supporters, but for the participating teams again, and we can’t wait to welcome them back to the Mother City in the summer.
“It’s great for the game to be returning to some form of normality after a few seasons of disruption, and after playing 14 consecutive World Series tournaments abroad since Cape Town in 2019, we know our players are looking forward to playing in front of their families, friends and fans yet again.”
Ticket information for the HSBC Cape Town Sevens will be released soon.
The 2023 season will start in Hong Kong in November, but only with men’s teams, with a return to the Chinese city in March 2023 where both men and women will compete. Vancouver will also be a combined event in 2023, meaning that the traditional women’s tournament in Langford, Canada, falls away.
Los Angeles (February), Singapore (April) and London (May) will be the remaining standalone tournaments for men, with the latter closing out the season.
Most importantly, Olympic qualification is on the line during the season with the top four women’s and men’s teams in the upcoming World Series securing their tickets to Paris 2024.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series schedule for the 2023 season:
- 4-6 November 2022: Hong Kong (men only)
- 2-3 December 2022: Dubai (combined)
- 9-11 December 2022: Cape Town (combined)
- 21-22 January 2023: Hamilton (combined)
- 27-29 January 2023: Sydney (combined)
- 25-26 February 2023: Los Angeles (men only)
- 3-5 March 2023: Vancouver (combined)
- 31 March-2 April 2023: Hong Kong (combined)
- 8-9 April 2023: Singapore (men only)
- 12-14 May 2023: Toulouse (combined)
- 22-21 May 2023: London (men only)
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