Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

South Africa and Tonga win Challenger Series opening leg trophies

Tonga and South Africa celebrate in Stellenbosch (Photo by World Rugby)

South Africa women and Tonga men lifted trophies in Stellenbosch on Saturday after winning the opening tournament in the two-legged 2023 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series. Three days of opening weekend action culminated in the host country coming from behind to defeat Belgium 17-10 in the women’s final, while the Tongans had too much firepower for Germany in the men’s final that they clinched with a 26-14 victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 24 teams – 12 women’s and 12 men’s – will all be back in action next Friday at the same venue with the overall winner in the women’s section, which will be decided on aggregate points, securing promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 as the 12th and final team.

The winner of the men’s competition, which will also be decided on aggregate points over the two events, will enter a four-team playoff at the HSBC London Sevens in May together with the teams placed 12th to 14th after 10 rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023. The winner of the playoff will achieve the coveted Sevens World Series 2024 status.

Video Spacer

Black Fern Stacey Fluhler on winning gold at the World Sevens Series in Hong Kong

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 2:53
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 2:53
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
    • en (Main), selected
    Video Spacer

    Black Fern Stacey Fluhler on winning gold at the World Sevens Series in Hong Kong

    A try from Simamkele Namba was the only score in South Africa’s 5-0 women’s semi-final win over China. Then, after trailing Belgium 5-14 at the break, they became 24-19 title winners with a second-half flourish.

    South Africa skipper Mathrin Simmers said: “I’m very happy with the performance. We started a bit slow, but we pulled through at the end of it. We were trailing at half-time but I just told them to stick to the processes, relax and focus on what we needed to do and stay in the moment.

    “We have a lot of confidence going into the second leg of the tournament but for us, it’s just about going back to zero and starting all over again. We will go through all the processes and the systems we do in training and go into the next leg of the tournament.”

    In the bronze medal final, China defeated Poland 14-10, while Czechia were victorious 34-10 over Thailand in the fifth-place final. Madagascar narrowly beat Colombia 14-12 in the seventh-place match, Hong Kong China beat Mexico 15-12 in the ninth-place final, and Papua New Guinea defeated Paraguay 10-5 in the 11th place playoff.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    The pool draw for next weekend’s round two pitted South Africa in Pool D with Thailand, Madagascar and Paraguay. Belgium drew Czechia, Colombia and Papua New Guinea in Pool E, while Pool F will feature China, Poland, Hong Kong China and Mexico.

    In the men’s section, Tonga picked off Hong Kong China 33-0 in their semi-final before Soni Asi, John Tapueluelu, Kyren Taumoefolau and Tevita Manukea all scored to give them a 26-14 final win over Germany. Tongan captain Sione Tupou said: “This win means the world to us. This is a reward for all the hardships that we have been through.

    “This win is for the future generation in Tonga. The second week of the Challenger Series is going to be tough for us because now everyone will come after the champions, but we trust in the team that we have and the positive spirit that we carry.”

    In the fifth-place final, Uganda beat Italy 19-15 while Chile blanked Brazil 41-0 in the seventh-place decider, Zimbabwe defeated Papua New Guinea 40-17 for ninth place and Jamaica lost to Korea 12-5 in the 11th-place final.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Next weekend, Tonga will be joined by Italy, Chile and Jamaica in Pool A, Germany have been pitted against Uganda, Brazil and Korea in Pool B while in Pool C, Hong Kong China, Belgium, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea will battle it out.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Top 10 inspiring Lions speeches

    United States of Rugby | Episode 1 – Welcome to Dawgtown

    Top 10 Best Lions Tries of the 2000s

    Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo vs Kubota Spears | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Final | Full Match Replay

    Saitama Wild Knights vs Kobe Steelers | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Bronze Final | Full Match Replay

    Boks Office | Episode 42 | Investec Champions Cup Final Review

    Spain's Incredible Rugby Sevens Journey to the World Championship Final | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 14

    The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

    Trending on RugbyPass

    Comments

    0 Comments
    Be the first to comment...

    Join free and tell us what you really think!

    Sign up for free
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Latest Features

    Comments on RugbyPass

    J
    JW 47 minutes ago
    Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

    Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


    You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


    I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


    I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

    AI Overview

    In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

    is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


    Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


    So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

    15 Go to comments
    LONG READ
    LONG READ Dave Kilcoyne: ‘These days, you can’t really throw a punch because you’ll be caught on the drone footage!’ Dave Kilcoyne: ‘These days, you can’t really throw a punch because you’ll be caught on the drone footage!’
    Search