What will Shujaa need to earn promotion following World Rugby’s major changes to Sevens Series?

Photo Credit: HSBC World Rugby

RUGBY What will Shujaa need to earn promotion following World Rugby’s major changes to Sevens Series?

Joel Omotto 06:31 - 19.07.2023

Shujaa have a tough route back to the World Sevens Series after the sports governing body introduced a new format starting next season.

Kenya Sevens will have to ensure they finish in the top four of next year’s Challenger Series to have any chance of regaining their core status after suffering relegation last season.

World Rugby has made changes to next season’s World Rugby Sevens Series which will only have eight legs as opposed to 11 witnessed last season.

In the new format, the Sevens Series will be known as SVNS and will start in Dubai in December before heading to Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and complete in Madrid in June. The Spanish capital has been added to the series with London and Paris scrapped.

From the changes, the top eight teams after the Singapore leg will compete in a winner-take-all final, for both men and women, at the season-ending Madrid leg.

Unlike before where the team with the most points at the final leg was crowned champion of the World Series, now the winner will be known at the final in Madrid with points accumulated previously not counting much.

“For the first time in rugby sevens history, all locations will be unified under the same approach, meaning that the overall experience is the same and we can optimise commercial revenue for reinvestment, including playing our part in ensuring that sevens is a viable career path for the talented players and Olympians,” said World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin regarding the changes.

Meanwhile, the teams ranked ninth to 12th in the World Series after Singapore will join the top four teams from the second-tier World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in a high-stakes relegation play-off competition which will see the top four teams secure their places in the next edition of SVNS.

The four unsuccessful teams from the relegation playoff will go into the regional competitions to qualify for the next Challenger Series, which comprises 12 men's and 12 women’s teams, competing in the second level of international rugby sevens.

It, therefore, means that Kenya will need to finish in the top four in the 2024 Challenger Series to make it to the relegation/promotion playoff in Madrid and ensure they are among the four best teams again to regain their place in the World Series for the 2025 season.

Shujaa will begin their promotion journey at the Africa Men’s Sevens slated for September 16 and 17 in Zimbabwe with the 12-team tournament also serving as the 2024 Olympics qualifier where only one team will make it to Paris.

If Kenya fail to win the Africa Men’s Sevens tournament, they will hope to finish second or third to qualify for the 2024 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament while also making it to the 2024 Challenger Series.

Assuming that is secured, they will enter into the 12-team Challenger Series which is a two-weekend tournament involving teams from around the world including the likes of Uruguay, and Japan who missed out on promotion last season.