Dates for the Cape Town leg of the Sevens Series confirmed
Image: Esa Alexander
The Cape Town leg of the 2018/19 HSBC World Sevens Series will take place between 8 and 9 December‚ governing body World Rugby confirmed on Friday.
It will be the third time the South African leg of the series will be staged at the Cape Town Stadium and in both previous events over 100 000 fans attended the games‚ making the Mother City leg the most supported stop on tour.
As it has in the past two seasons‚ the Cape Town Sevens is the second stop on the 10-city World Series‚ that starts in Dubai a week earlier.
The Blitzboks are the defending World Series champions‚ although they only reached the semi-finals in Cape Town last season.
The 2018/19 series opens in Dubai (30 November to 1 December‚ 2018)‚ before teams move on to Cape Town the following weekend.In the New Year‚ teams will travel to Hamilton‚ New Zealand (26-27 January 2019)‚ before both men’s and women’s teams are welcomed to Sydney‚ Australia (1-3 February).
The fifth and sixth rounds will be hosted in Las Vegas‚ USA (1-3 March) and Vancouver‚ Canada (9-10 March)‚ before teams travel to Hong Kong (5-7 April) and Singapore on (13-14 April) for rounds seven and eight respectively.
The penultimate round of the series will take place again in London (25-26 May)‚ with Paris hosting the finale (1-2 June).World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “As we enter an Olympic Games qualifying year‚ the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series promises to again be highly competitive teams look to secure their place‚ via the World Series‚ at Tokyo 2020.“
Rugby sevens has seen record growth in awareness in recent years with its inclusion in the Olympics having a profound effect on the sport‚ attracting an estimated 30 million fans globally. The series continues to capture the imagination of global audiences with record-breaking fan engagement figures of over 120 million video views recorded this year.“
The World Series is truly one of rugby sevens’ flagship competitions and we are looking forward to watching teams once again compete at the highest level for not only for the coveted World Series title‚ but also Olympic qualification.”
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Men’s Schedule
- Dubai‚ UAE‚ 30 November – 1 December 2018
- Cape Town‚ South Africa‚ 8-9 December 2018
- Hamilton‚ New Zealand‚ 26- 27 January 2019
- Sydney‚ Australia‚ 2-3 February 2019
- Las Vegas‚ USA‚ 1-3 March 2019
- Vancouver‚ Canada‚ 9-10 March 2019
- Hong Kong‚ Hong Kong‚ 5-7 April 2019
- Singapore‚ Singapore‚ 13-14 April 2019
- London‚ England‚ 25-26 May 2019
- Paris‚ France‚ 1-2 June 2019