In 2026, two key rugby fixtures will be missing from the calendar. The Rugby World Cup Sevens will not be played while 7s rugby will not be on the menu for the Commonwealth Games.

In 2024, World Rugby made a bold decision to replace Rugby World Cup Sevens with a new event. Under this arrangement, teams in the World Rugby Sevens World Series were reduced to 12 from 16. 

They created a new three-tournament competition, the Challenger Series for second tier teams. The top four teams in the Challenger Series qualified for an end of the season championship that was first played in Madrid, Spain.

In the championship, eight of the top teams in the regular World Rugby Sevens World Series played to determine the overall champion after the regular circuit. The championship in Madrid replaced Rugby World Cup Sevens. 

New Format

Four teams that finished bottom of the 12-team format were expected to play in a qualifier against the top four teams in the Challenger Series to decide which teams were promoted to the 12-team format. 

In Madrid, Spain, Spain, Samoa, USA and Canada finished at the bottom of the 12-team World Rugby Sevens World Series and were drawn against the top four teams in the Challenger Series namely Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany.

Kenya had been relegated from the World Rugby Sevens World Series at the end of the 2022/2023 season for the first time after 22 years. They dropped to the Challenger Series and finished second to Uruguay to qualify for the play-off in Madrid, Spain.

After only one year, Kenya reclaimed their place in the top tier 12-team league in the 2024/2025 season. They finished ninth and flew to Los Angeles, California to play in a qualifier similar to the scenario in Madrid, Spain the previous year.

New Categories

Surprisingly, World Rugby announced a new format creating three new categories comprising a top tier league comprising the top eight teams in the World Rugby Sevens World Series, a second tier competition for the next teams and a third tier for regional champions.

The announcement in LA became a turning point of the shorter version of the game and has blurred the future of what was considered a growing competition. There has been confusion among the rugby fraternity and strong words by rugby pundits about the complex nature of seven-a-side rugby competitions.

At the moment, there are talks of another review of seven-a-side rugby after an anxious trial session in the 2025/2026 season ahead of the remaining two championships in Spain and France. The possible changes shall be revealed in our next article.