| 2020 Sevens Challenger Series | |
| Series: | Men's tour – Series I |
| Countries: | |
| Date: | 15–23 February 2020 |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Champions: | (1st title) |
The 2020 Challenger Series for men's rugby sevens teams was the inaugural season of the second-tier circuit with promotion to the first-tier World Rugby Sevens Series.
The men's tour had sixteen national teams competing and included two Challenger Series events, played in Chile and Uruguay. A final 8-team knockout event had been planned as part of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament to decide the overall winner, but this was postponed[1] and eventually cancelled by World Rugby due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan, as the top-placed team on the standings after the two completed events, was awarded the Challenger Series title and promoted to the World Rugby Sevens Series as a core team for the 2020–21 season.[2]
There were 16 men's national teams competing in the Challenger Series for 2020.[3]
| Nation | Means of qualification | Date qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Sudamérica Rugby Sevens | 13 January | ||
| 2019 Sudamérica Olympic Qualifier | 30 June | ||
| 2019 RAN Sevens | 7 July | ||
| 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series | 20 July | ||
| 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Series | 29 September | ||
| 2019 Oceania Sevens Championship | 9 November | ||
| 2019 Africa Men's Sevens | 9 November | ||
| Invited teams | - | ||
| Total | 16 | ||
The official schedule for the 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series was:
| Host | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile | Viña del Mar | 15–16 February | |||
| Uruguay | Montevideo | 22–23 February | |||
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong | N/A | |||
The final qualifying event at the Hong Kong Sevens was originally scheduled to be played in April 2020 but was postponed[4] and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The official standings for the 2020 Challenger Series are presented in the table below.
Viña del Mar | Montevideo | Points total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | 22 | 39 | ||
| 2 | 19 | 17 | 36 | ||
| 3 | 22 | 13 | 35 | ||
| 4 | 15 | 15 | 30 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 19 | 27 | ||
| 6 | 13 | 11 | 24 | ||
| 7 | 11 | 8 | 19 | ||
| 8 | 12 | 7 | 19 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 10 | 7 | 10 | 17 | ||
| 11 | 10 | 6 | 16 | ||
| 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 13 | 4 | 5 | 9 | ||
| 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 16 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Source: World Rugby[5]
| Legend < | -- comment out | |
|---|---|---|
| Qualification for the 2020–21 World Sevens Series --> | ||
| Green | Promoted to the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series | |
| Yellow | Invited team | |
The first event was held in Chile, hosted at Estadio Sausalito in Viña Del Mar on 15–16 February 2020.[6] Germany won the tournament, defeating Hong Kong by 10–0 in the final, to take the maximum 22 points in the series standings leading into the second event at Montevideo.[7]
All times are CLST, Chile Summer Time: (UTC-3).
Key: Team advanced to the quarterfinals
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 19 | +71 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 105 | −86 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 7 | +69 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 63 | −29 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 74 | −52 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 29 | +62 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 33 | +50 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 76 | 63 | +13 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 140 | −125 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 26 | +86 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 79 | −45 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 83 | −52 | 3 |
| Place | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | ||
| 2 | 19 | ||
| 3 | 17 | ||
| 4 | 15 | ||
| 5 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 11 | ||
| 8 | 10 |
| Place | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 6 | ||
| 12 | 5 | ||
| 13 | 4 | ||
| 14 | 3 | ||
| 15 | 2 | ||
| 16 | 1 |
Source: portaldorugby
The men's tour traveled to Uruguay for the second leg. The Seven Punta tournament, the nation's premier international rugby sevens event, served as the Challenge Series contest. Played since 1989 at the resort city of Punta del Este, the tournament was relocated for the first time to Montevideo for the 2020 edition but kept the Seven Punta name.[8] It was held at Estadio Charrua on 22–23 February 2020.[9] [10] Japan won the tournament, defeating the host nation Uruguay in the final by 5–0 in extra time.[11]
All times are UYT, Uruguay Time: (UTC-3).
Key: Team advanced to the quarterfinals
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 27 | +61 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 41 | +29 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 84 | −55 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 67 | −35 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 24 | +86 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 41 | +14 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 60 | −29 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 98 | −71 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 29 | +94 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 57 | +37 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 73 | −18 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 149 | −113 | 3 |
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 38 | +35 | 9 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 100 | −52 | 3 |
| Place | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | ||
| 2 | 19 | ||
| 3 | 17 | ||
| 4 | 15 | ||
| 5 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 11 | ||
| 8 | 10 |
| Place | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 6 | ||
| 12 | 5 | ||
| 13 | 4 | ||
| 14 | 3 | ||
| 15 | 2 | ||
| 16 | 1 |