The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series carried added significance this season as the principal route for qualification to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In the men’s series, which culminated in the French capital Paris earlier this month, Fiji, USA, New Zealand and South Africa secured their places in Japan.

The women’s series concludes in Biarritz, France, this weekend with New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia having all secured a top-four spot in the standings to book their ticket to Tokyo.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Congratulations to the eight teams that have now qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by securing a top-four spot on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2019.

“The standard of rugby played in this competition is exceptional and increases year-on-year, so to finish within the top four is an outstanding achievement.

“We have seen unprecedented growth in this competition since its inception, and next season will be no different as the women’s series increases to eight rounds for the first time in its history.

“2020 will be a big year for rugby sevens as it makes its second appearance on the Olympic Games programme in Tokyo, and we are very excited to watch these teams in action there next summer.”

The eight teams will join Japan’s men’s and women’s teams who were guaranteed automatic qualification as host nation.

Brazil’s women have also confirmed their place at Tokyo 2020 after winning the South American regional qualifier in Lima, Peru, on 1-2 June.

The second regional qualifier will be the South America men’s tournament, hosted in Santiago, Chile, on 29-30 June, 2019.

Regional qualification tournaments for North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa will take place between July and November this year.

The final opportunity for teams to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be in the World Rugby Olympic Repechage tournaments held next year.

Courtesy of World Rugby

New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

China relegated from HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series

The curtain came down on a record-breaking HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2019 with a piece of history as USA ran out 26-10 winners over New Zealand in the HSBC France Women’s Sevens final to win their first-ever Cup title.

The Black Ferns Sevens had already claimed the series crown – their fifth in seven series – by reaching the semi-finals but were denied a double celebration at the Stade Aguilera in Biarritz by an inspired USA performance.

New Zealand had won their last seven Cup final appearances but it was USA who struck first when Alev Kelter sped down the left wing for the opening try. Kelter then made the turnover after Kelly Brazier had sidestepped two players and Cheta Emba grabbed a second try for the Women’s Sevens Eagles.

Ruby Tui gave the Black Ferns Sevens hope when she picked up the ball from a ruck and charged down the touchline, Kelter chased and came close to denying the try but it was given after consultation with the TMO.

The try didn’t faze the USA, though, who took the restart after a juggle from Emba and Kelter – later named HSBC Player of the Final – slipped another tackle to race 70 metres for her second try, Tyla Nathan-Wong at least keeping her out to prevent the conversion but they still trailed 19-5 at half-time.

New Zealand’s quest to become only the second team to come from behind at half-time to win a final – after Canada in Kitakyushu – wasn’t helped when Michaela Blyde was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown and USA work co-captain Lauren Doyle over for their fourth try of the final.

Baker did manage to pull one try back for New Zealand but it wasn’t long before the USA were celebrating their first Cup title at the 37th event in HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series history.

USA coach Chris Brown added: “It’s a pleasure for me to be able to work with them and do my part but for them to stick to what we agreed to all weekend was special.

“We had to sort our culture out and make sure they wanted to play for each other, and know what it was like to put the team before themselves. We’ve got a good group here and from there we had to work out how to actually defend and show our character through our defence. That’s what we’ve done all season. We’re still missing a few cogs on the attacking side but we’re progressing.”

New Zealand finished top of the standings with 110 points, 10 more than USA with Canada claiming the series bronze with 94 points and Australia fourth with 86 points. This quartet have all confirmed their place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games alongside host nation Japan with USA, Canada and Olympic champions Australia booking their places in Biarritz this weekend.

Black Ferns captain Sarah Hirini, who created history by becoming the first to play 200 matches on the women’s series in their semi-final win over Canada, said: “This is a quality USA team and the few basic errors we made proved very costly. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt but we’ve now got to celebrate a world series win which was the goal of ours from the start of the season.

“USA are one of our rivals but the top six teams on the series are tough at any time. They’ve been there or thereabouts this season so they deserve a Cup title. They played their hearts out this weekend.

“It’s been an awesome 12 months. It’s been challenging at times as we’ve been through a lot of adversity back home but we’ve used most of the girls on our roster and that’s a huge testament to those girls. We’re pretty happy to be bringing home a series title – our fifth one in seven years.”

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