Japan Announces Women's Sevens Challenger Series
Japan has announced the Women's Sevens Challenger Series with matches scheduled for Nagoya on May 16-17 and Shizuoka on June 13-14. The tournament represents Japan's continued investment in women's rugby development and provides additional competitive opportunities for emerging rugby nations. The series adds to the global women's rugby calendar as the sport continues to grow internationally.
The World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series serves as a second-tier competition, providing a crucial promotion pathway for national teams to the top-level HSBC SVNS. The top four teams from the Challenger Series get a chance to compete in a play-off tournament for a spot in the elite series, offering a direct route for emerging rugby nations to ascend in the global ranks. Japan's women's team, the Sakura Sevens, has direct experience with this pathway, having won the Challenger Series in 2022 to earn core status on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2023 season. Their journey highlights the competitive opportunities the series provides, which has featured teams from all six World Rugby regions, including nations like Poland, China, Kenya, and Argentina. This tournament is a key part of the Japan Rugby Football Union's (JRFU) broader strategy to elevate women's rugby. In April 2023, the JRFU appointed its first Director of Women's Rugby, Akane Kagawa, and launched a long-term strategic plan with the goal of winning a Women's Rugby World Cup by 2037. The JRFU's "JAPAN RUGBY 2050" strategic plan outlines ambitions to become the world's number one ranked team in both sevens and fifteens. This investment has already shown results, with the Sakura Sevens securing a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics and achieving their first-ever podium finish with a bronze in the HSBC SVNS series opener in Dubai.
