2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series – Men's tour

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.

2020 Sevens Challenger Series
Men's tour – Series I
Hosts	Chile Uruguay
Date	15–23 February 2020
Nations	16
Final positions
Champions	Japan (1st title)
Runners-up	Hong Kong
Third	Germany
2022 →

The men's tour had sixteen national teams competing and included two Challenger Series events, played in Chile and Uruguay.^[1] A final 8-team knockout event had been planned as part of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament to decide the overall winner,^[1] but this was postponed ^[2] and eventually cancelled by World Rugby due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

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.^[3]

Teams

There were 16 men's national teams competing in the Challenger Series for 2020.^[4][5]

Nation	Means of qualification	Date qualified
Chile  Uruguay	2019 Sudamérica Rugby Sevens	13 January
Brazil	2019 Sudamérica Olympic Qualifier	30 June
Jamaica	2019 RAN Sevens	7 July
Germany  Portugal  Italy	2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series	20 July
Japan  Hong Kong	2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Series	29 September
Tonga  Papua New Guinea	2019 Oceania Sevens Championship	9 November
Uganda  Zimbabwe	2019 Africa Men's Sevens	9 November
Mexico  Colombia  Paraguay	Invited teams	–
Total		16

Tour venues

The official schedule for the 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series was:^[4]

2020 Tour Venues

Host	Stadium	City	Dates	Winner
Chile	Estadio Sausalito	Viña del Mar	15–16 February	Germany
Uruguay	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	22–23 February	Japan
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Stadium	Hong Kong	Cancelled [3]	N/A

The final qualifying event at the Hong Kong Sevens was originally scheduled to be played in April 2020 but was postponed ^[6] and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Standings

The official standings for the 2020 Challenger Series are presented in the table below.^[7]

2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series – Series I

Pos	Event  Team	Viña del Mar	Monte­video	Points total
1	Japan	17	22	39
2	Hong Kong	19	17	36
3	Germany	22	13	35
4	Chile	15	15	30
5	Uruguay	8	19	27
6	Tonga	13	11	24
7	Uganda	11	8	19[a]
8	Zimbabwe	12	7	19[a]
9	Italy	6	12	18
10	Jamaica	7	10	17
11	Papua New Guinea	10	6	16
12	Portugal	5	4	9[b]
13	Colombia	4	5	9[b]
14	Mexico	1	3	4[c]
15	Brazil	2	2	4[c]
16	Paraguay	3	1	4[c]

Source: World Rugby ^[7]

Legend
Green	Promoted to the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series
Yellow	Invited team

Notes

1. Tie-breaker margin of points scored for and against in all matches: Uganda +64. Zimbabwe –16.
2. Tie-breaker margin of points scored for and against in all matches: Portugal –31, Colombia –135.
3. Tie-breaker margin of points scored for and against in all matches: Mexico –133, Brazil –168, Paraguay –317.

Viña del Mar

The first event was held in Chile, hosted at Estadio Sausalito in Viña Del Mar on 15–16 February 2020.^[8] Germany won the tournament, defeating Hong Kong by 10–0 in the final,^[1] to take the maximum 22 points in the series standings leading into the second event at Montevideo.^[9]

All times are CLST, Chile Summer Time: (UTC-3).

Key:   Team advanced to the quarterfinals

Pool A

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Japan	3	0	0	90	19	+71	9
Tonga	2	0	1	43	45	−2	7
Uruguay	1	0	2	51	34	+17	5
Portugal	0	0	3	19	105	−86	3

Match 5	15 February 2020	Tonga	26–12	Portugal	Estadio Sausalito
	12:31		Report

Match 6	15 February 2020	Japan	17–12	Uruguay	Estadio Sausalito
	12:53		Report

Match 13	15 February 2020	Tonga	10–0	Uruguay	Estadio Sausalito
	15:37		Report

Match 14	15 February 2020	Japan	40–0	Portugal	Estadio Sausalito
	15:59		Report

Match 21	15 February 2020	Portugal	7–39	Uruguay	Estadio Sausalito
	19:08		Report

Match 22	15 February 2020	Japan	33–7	Tonga	Estadio Sausalito
	19:35		Report

Pool B

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Hong Kong	3	0	0	76	7	+69	9
Papua New Guinea	2	0	1	34	63	−29	7
Jamaica	1	0	2	43	31	+12	5
Colombia	0	0	3	22	74	−52	3

Match 3	15 February 2020	Jamaica	10–12	Papua New Guinea	Estadio Sausalito
	11:47		Report

Match 4	15 February 2020	Hong Kong	26–0	Colombia	Estadio Sausalito
	12:09		Report

Match 11	15 February 2020	Jamaica	26–5	Colombia	Estadio Sausalito
	14:53		Report

Match 12	15 February 2020	Hong Kong	36–0	Papua New Guinea	Estadio Sausalito
	15:15		Report

Match 19	15 February 2020	Papua New Guinea	22–17	Colombia	Estadio Sausalito
	18:09		Report

Match 20	15 February 2020	Hong Kong	14–7	Jamaica	Estadio Sausalito
	18:31		Report

Pool C

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Germany	3	0	0	91	29	+62	9
Uganda	2	0	1	83	33	+50	7
Italy	1	0	2	76	63	+13	5
Paraguay	0	0	3	15	140	−125	3

Match 1	15 February 2020	Uganda	24–14	Italy	Estadio Sausalito
	11:03		Report

Match 2	15 February 2020	Germany	48–0	Paraguay	Estadio Sausalito
	11:25		Report

Match 9	15 February 2020	Uganda	47–0	Paraguay	Estadio Sausalito
	14:09		Report

Match 10	15 February 2020	Germany	24–17	Italy	Estadio Sausalito
	14:31		Report

Match 17	15 February 2020	Italy	45–15	Paraguay	Estadio Sausalito
	17:25		Report

Match 18	15 February 2020	Germany	19–12	Uganda	Estadio Sausalito
	17:47		Report

Pool D

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Chile	3	0	0	112	26	+86	9
Zimbabwe	2	0	1	64	53	+11	7
Mexico	1	0	2	34	79	−45	5
Brazil	0	0	3	31	83	−52	3

Match 7	15 February 2020	Zimbabwe	21–14	Brazil	Estadio Sausalito
	13:15		Report

Match 8	15 February 2020	Chile	45–0	Mexico	Estadio Sausalito
	13:37		Report

Match 15	15 February 2020	Zimbabwe	24–15	Mexico	Estadio Sausalito
	16:21		Report

Match 16	15 February 2020	Chile	43–7	Brazil	Estadio Sausalito
	16:43		Report

Match 23	15 February 2020	Brazil	10–19	Mexico	Estadio Sausalito
	20:02		Report

Match 24	15 February 2020	Chile	24–19	Zimbabwe	Estadio Sausalito
	20:30		Report

Lower playoffs

13th place

	13th place semifinals				13th place final
	16 February – 15:57 – Estadio Sausalito
	Brazil	19
					16 February – 19:11 – Estadio Sausalito
	Colombia	22
					Colombia	17
	16 February – 16:203 – Estadio Sausalito
					Paraguay	14
	Mexico	14
	Paraguay	19

Matches
13th place semifinals Match 33 16 February 2020 Brazil  19–22  Colombia Estadio Sausalito   15:57 Report Match 34 16 February 2020 Mexico  14–19  Paraguay Estadio Sausalito   16:20 Report 13th place final Match 41 16 February 2020 Colombia  17–14  Paraguay Estadio Sausalito   19:11 Report

9th place

	9th place quarterfinals				9th place semifinals				9th place final
	16 February – 12:33 – Estadio Sausalito
	Uruguay	19
					16 February – 16:43 – Estadio Sausalito
	Brazil	5
					Uruguay	29
	16 February – 12:56 – Estadio Sausalito
					Italy	0
	Italy	47
									16 February – 20:03 – Estadio Sausalito
	Colombia	19
									Uruguay	33
	16 February – 13:19 – Estadio Sausalito
									Jamaica	0
	Mexico	10
					16 February – 17:06 – Estadio Sausalito
	Portugal	30
					Portugal	19
	16 February – 13:42 – Estadio Sausalito
					Jamaica	22
	Jamaica	33
	Paraguay	17

Matches

9th place quarterfinals Match 25 15 February 2020 Uruguay  19–5  Brazil Estadio Sausalito   12:33 Report Match 26 16 February 2020 Italy  47–19  Colombia Estadio Sausalito   12:56 Report Match 27 16 February 2020 Mexico  10–30  Portugal Estadio Sausalito   13:19 Report Match 28 16 February 2020 Jamaica  33–17  Paraguay Estadio Sausalito   13:42 Report 9th place semifinals Match 35 16 February 2020 Uruguay  29–0  Italy Estadio Sausalito   16:43 Report Match 36 16 February 2020 Portugal  19–22  Jamaica Estadio Sausalito   17:06 Report 9th place final Match 42 16 February 2020 Uruguay  33–0  Jamaica Estadio Sausalito   20:03 Report

Title playoffs

5th place

	5th place semifinals				5th place final
	16 February – 17:39 – Estadio Sausalito
	Zimbabwe	26
					16 February – 20:28 – Estadio Sausalito
	Papua New Guinea	19
					Zimbabwe	14
	16 February – 18:02 – Estadio Sausalito
					Tonga	19
	Tonga	19
	Uganda	14

Matches
5th place semifinals Match 37 16 February 2020 Zimbabwe  26–19  Papua New Guinea Estadio Sausalito   17:39 Report Match 38 16 February 2020 Tonga  19–14  Uganda Estadio Sausalito   18:02 Report 5th place final Match 43 16 February 2020 Zimbabwe  14–19  Tonga Estadio Sausalito   20:28 Report

Cup

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	16 February – 14:15 – Estadio Sausalito
	Japan	33
					16 February – 18:25 – Estadio Sausalito
	Zimbabwe	0
					Japan	5
	16 February – 14:38 – Estadio Sausalito
					Germany	12
	Germany	29
									16 February – 21:23 – Estadio Sausalito
	Papua New Guinea	0
									Germany	10
	16 February – 15:01 – Estadio Sausalito
									Hong Kong	0
	Chile	28
					16 February – 18:48 – Estadio Sausalito
	Tonga	7
					Chile	14
	16 February – 15:24 – Estadio Sausalito
					Hong Kong	17			3rd place final
	Hong Kong	10
									16 February – 20:54 – Estadio Sausalito
	Uganda	7
									Japan	31
									Chile	14

Matches

Quarterfinals Match 29 16 February 2020 Japan  33–0  Zimbabwe Estadio Sausalito   14:15 Report Match 30 16 February 2020 Germany  29–0  Papua New Guinea Estadio Sausalito   14:38 Report Match 31 16 February 2020 Chile  28–7  Tonga Estadio Sausalito   15:01 Report Match 32 16 February 2020 Hong Kong  10–7  Uganda Estadio Sausalito   15:24 Report Semifinals Match 39 16 February 2020 Japan  5–12  Germany Estadio Sausalito   18:25 Report Match 40 16 February 2020 Chile  14–17  Hong Kong Estadio Sausalito   18:48 Report 3rd place final Match 44 16 February 2020 Japan  31–14  Chile Estadio Sausalito   20:54 Report Final Match 45 16 February 2020 Germany  10–0  Hong Kong Estadio Sausalito   21:23 Report

Placings

Place	Team	Points
1	Germany	22
2	Hong Kong	19
3	Japan	17
4	Chile	15
5	Tonga	13
6	Zimbabwe	12
7	Uganda	11
8	Papua New Guinea	10

Place	Team	Points
9	Uruguay	8
10	Jamaica	7
11	Italy	6
12	Portugal	5
13	Colombia	4
14	Paraguay	3
15	Brazil	2
16	Mexico	1

Source: portaldorugby ^[10]

Montevideo

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.^[11] It was held at Estadio Charrua on 22–23 February 2020.^[12][13] Japan won the tournament, defeating the host nation Uruguay in the final by 5–0 in extra time.^[14]

All times are UYT, Uruguay Time: (UTC-3).

Key:   Team advanced to the quarterfinals

Pool A

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Germany	3	0	0	88	27	+61	9
Uruguay	2	0	1	70	41	+29	7
Mexico	1	0	2	29	84	−55	5
Papua New Guinea	0	0	3	32	67	−35	3

Match 7	22 February 2020	Papua New Guinea	10–26	Uruguay	Estadio Charrua
	13:15		Report

Match 8	22 February 2020	Germany	38–7	Mexico	Estadio Charrua
	13:37		Report

Match 15	22 February 2020	Papua New Guinea	12–17	Mexico	Estadio Charrua
	16:41		Report

Match 16	22 February 2020	Germany	26–10	Uruguay	Estadio Charrua
	17:03		Report

Match 23	22 February 2020	Uruguay	34–5	Mexico	Estadio Charrua
	20:12		Report

Match 24	22 February 2020	Germany	24–10	Papua New Guinea	Estadio Charrua
	20:40		Report

Pool B

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Hong Kong	3	0	0	110	24	+86	9
Jamaica	2	0	1	55	41	+14	7
Uganda	1	0	2	31	60	−29	5
Brazil	0	0	3	27	98	−71	3

Match 5	22 February 2020	Uganda	0–10	Jamaica	Estadio Charrua
	12:31		Report

Match 6	22 February 2020	Hong Kong	41–5	Brazil	Estadio Charrua
	12:53		Report

Match 13	22 February 2020	Uganda	19–12	Brazil	Estadio Charrua
	15:57		Report

Match 14	22 February 2020	Hong Kong	31–7	Jamaica	Estadio Charrua
	16:19		Report

Match 21	22 February 2020	Jamaica	38–10	Brazil	Estadio Charrua
	19:18		Report

Match 22	22 February 2020	Hong Kong	38–12	Uganda	Estadio Charrua
	19:45		Report

Pool C

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Japan	3	0	0	123	29	+94	9
Italy	2	0	1	94	57	+37	7
Zimbabwe	1	0	2	55	73	−18	5
Paraguay	0	0	3	36	149	−113	3

Match 3	22 February 2020	Zimbabwe	12–35	Italy	Estadio Charrua
	11:47		Report

Match 4	22 February 2020	Japan	71–5	Paraguay	Estadio Charrua
	12:09		Report

Match 11	22 February 2020	Zimbabwe	31–12	Paraguay	Estadio Charrua
	15:03		Report

Match 12	22 February 2020	Japan	26–12	Italy	Estadio Charrua
	15:25		Report

Match 19	22 February 2020	Italy	47–19	Paraguay	Estadio Charrua
	18:19		Report

Match 20	22 February 2020	Japan	26–12	Zimbabwe	Estadio Charrua
	18:41		Report

Pool D

Team	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Tonga	3	0	0	73	38	+35	9
Chile	2	0	1	55	39	+16	7
Portugal	1	0	2	48	47	+1	5
Colombia	0	0	3	48	100	−52	3

Match 1	22 February 2020	Tonga	14–7	Portugal	Estadio Charrua
	11:03		Report

Match 2	22 February 2020	Chile	29–10	Colombia	Estadio Charrua
	11:25		Report

Match 9	22 February 2020	Tonga	40–19	Colombia	Estadio Charrua
	14:19		Report

Match 10	22 February 2020	Chile	14–10	Portugal	Estadio Charrua
	14:41		Report

Match 17	22 February 2020	Portugal	31–19	Colombia	Estadio Charrua
	17:35		Report

Match 18	22 February 2020	Chile	12–19	Tonga	Estadio Charrua
	17:57		Report

Lower playoffs

13th place

	13th place semifinals				13th place final
	23 February – 14:57 – Estadio Charrua
	Mexico	22
					23 February – 18:11 – Estadio Charrua
	Brazil	0
					Mexico	7
	23 February – 15:20 – Estadio Charrua
					Portugal	30
	Portugal	26
	Paraguay	10

Matches
13th place semifinals Match 33 23 February 2020 Mexico  22–0  Brazil Estadio Charrua   14:57 Report Match 34 23 February 2020 Portugal  26–10  Paraguay Estadio Charrua   15:20 Report 13th place final Match 41 23 February 2020 Mexico  7–30  Portugal Estadio Charrua   18:11 Report

9th place

	9th place quarterfinals				9th place semifinals				9th place final
	23 February – 11:33 – Estadio Charrua
	Mexico	17
					23 February – 15:43 – Estadio Charrua
	Colombia	24
					Colombia	17
	23 February – 11:56 – Estadio Charrua
					Zimbabwe	33
	Zimbabwe	21
									23 February – 19:03 – Estadio Charrua
	Brazil	15
									Zimbabwe	24
	23 February – 12:19 – Estadio Charrua
									Uganda	26
	Portugal	17
					23 February – 16:06 – Estadio Charrua
	Papua New Guinea	19
					Papua New Guinea	19
	23 February – 12:42 – Estadio Charrua
					Uganda	22
	Uganda	56
	Paraguay	7

Matches

9th place quarterfinals Match 25 23 February 2020 Mexico  17–24  Colombia Estadio Charrua   11:33 Report Match 26 23 February 2020 Zimbabwe  21–15  Brazil Estadio Charrua   11:56 Report Match 27 23 February 2020 Portugal  17–19  Papua New Guinea Estadio Charrua   12:19 Report Match 28 23 February 2020 Uganda  56–7  Paraguay Estadio Charrua   12:42 Report 9th place semifinals Match 35 23 February 2020 Colombia  17–33  Zimbabwe Estadio Charrua   15:43 Report Match 36 23 February 2020 Papua New Guinea  19–22  Uganda Estadio Charrua   16:06 Report 9th place final Match 42 23 February 2020 Zimbabwe  24–26  Uganda Estadio Charrua   19:03 Report

Title playoffs

5th place

	5th place semifinals				5th place final
	16 February – 16:39 – Estadio Sausalito
	Germany	40
					23 February – 19:28 – Estadio Charrua
	Jamaica	5
					Germany	19
	23 February – 17:02 – Estadio Charrua
					Italy	10
	Tonga	15
	Italy	26

Matches
5th place semifinals Match 37 23 February 2020 Germany  40–5  Jamaica Estadio Charrua   17:39 Report Match 38 23 February 2020 Tonga  15–26  Italy Estadio Charrua   18:02 Report 5th place final Match 43 23 February 2020 Germany  19–10  Italy Estadio Charrua   19:28 Report

Cup

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	23 February – 13:15 – Estadio Charrua
	Germany	12
					23 February – 17:25 – Estadio Charrua
	Chile	17
					Chile	10
	23 February – 13:38 – Estadio Charrua
					Japan	31
	Japan	32
									23 February – 20:23 – Estadio Charrua
	Jamaica	0
									Japan	5 (a.e.t.)
	23 February – 14:01 – Estadio Charrua
									Uruguay	0
	Tonga	7
					23 February – 17:48 – Estadio Charrua
	Uruguay	27
					Uruguay	12
	23 February – 14:24 – Estadio Charrua
					Hong Kong	0			3rd place final
	Hong Kong	17
									23 February – 19:54 – Estadio Charrua
	Italy	12
									Chile	7
									Hong Kong	12

Matches

Quarterfinals Match 29 23 February 2020 Germany  12–17  Chile Estadio Charrua   13:15 Report Match 30 23 February 2020 Japan  32–0  Jamaica Estadio Charrua   13:38 Report Match 31 23 February 2020 Tonga  7–27  Uruguay Estadio Charrua   14:01 Report Match 32 23 February 2020 Hong Kong  17–12  Italy Estadio Charrua   14:24 Report Semifinals Match 39 23 February 2020 Chile  10–31  Japan Estadio Charrua   17:25 Report Match 40 23 February 2020 Uruguay  12–0  Hong Kong Estadio Charrua   17:48 Report 3rd place final Match 44 23 February 2020 Chile  7–12  Hong Kong Estadio Charrua   19:54 Report Final Match 45 23 February 2020 Japan  5–0 (a.e.t.)  Uruguay Estadio Charrua   20:23 Report

Placings

Place	Team	Points
1	Japan	22
2	Uruguay	19
3	Hong Kong	17
4	Chile	15
5	Germany	13
6	Italy	12
7	Tonga	11
8	Jamaica	10

Place	Team	Points
9	Uganda	8
10	Zimbabwe	7
11	Papua New Guinea	6
12	Colombia	5
13	Portugal	4
14	Mexico	3
15	Brazil	2
16	Paraguay	1

See also

• Sports portal

• 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series – Women's tour

References

1. "Hong Kong men's sevens rugby team bow to Germany in Challenger Series first leg final". South China Morning Post. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020.
2. "World Rugby update on COVID-19 response measures and statement from Sir Bill Beaumont". World Rugby. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
3. "New Zealand awarded titles as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 concluded". Asia Rugby. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020.
4. "New Challenger Series to boost rugby sevens' expansion". World Rugby. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
5. "Sport: Tonga, PNG included in new Sevens Challenger Series". Radio New Zealand. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
6. "World Rugby Statement: Singapore and Hong Kong Sevens rescheduled". World.Rugby. 13 February 2020.
7. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2020 – Montevideo series standings" (PDF). World Rugby. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2020.
8. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2020 – Viña del Mar 15 - 16 February 2020". World Rugby. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
9. "Germany win first Challenger Series tournament". World Rugby. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020.
10. Ramalho, Victor (17 February 2020). "Brasil enfrentará Hong Kong, Uganda e-Jamaica em Montevidé". Portal do Rugby. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020.
11. Arrillaga, Enrique (14 December 2019). "El Seven de Punta del Este y un cambio histórico para el rugby de la región" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 December 2019.
12. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2020 – Montevideo 22 - 23 February 2020". World Rugby. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
13. "Pools for Sevens Challenger Series: Montevideo". Americas Rugby News. 17 February 2020.
14. "Sport: Tonga 7s seal spot in World Series Qualifier". Radio New Zealand. 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020.

External links

• Official site