Kenya and Paraguay who were ignominiously denied a chance of competing at the World Cup Sevens World Series following a decision by the World body to reduce the number of competing teams from 12 to eight could each host one leg of the Tier two tournaments.

Although the venues for the Tier Two tournaments – formerly Challenger Series – have not been disclosed and World Rugby remained tight-lipped about the criteria for either bidding for the rights to host or the procedure for selecting the venues, www.thesportsnewsarena.com established that Kenya and Paraguay who were dejected after missing out on the top tier competition would be given priority.

Third Tournament

Kenya, the USA, Paraguay, and Ireland have been vocal about the manner in which World Rugby dropped the bombshell in Los Angeles. If Kenya and Uruguay are confirmed as hosts by World Rugby, it will be interesting to see who will host the third tournament.

World Rugby stated this was a clear path for teams who have a chance to qualify for the top tier and inclusion in the championship.  World Rugby has already released the venues for the ‘elite’ competition which kicks off on November 29 in Dubai.

What World Rugby has dubbed as ‘The Reimagined’ Series then moves to Cape Town on December 6-7 before taking a break to resume on January 31 in Singapore. Australia hosts the fourth tournament on February 7 and 8 at a venue yet to be decided.

World Championship

The next two tournaments are slated for Vancouver, Canada from March 7-8 before the six-leg Series concludes on March 14-15 in the USA at a venue yet to be determined. Hong Kong will then host the first of the three signature World Championships scheduled for April 17-19 with Valladolid staging the next event from May 29-31 culminating in the third tournament in Bordeaux from 5-6 June.

According to the fixtures, the top tier teams shall compete in six tournaments after which they will proceed to the next stage which is the World Rugby Sevens Championship Series where the top 12 teams – men and women – will be joined by four teams from the second tier competition.