World Rugby has confirmed the calendar for the 2017-2018 men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. The competition will be played over 10 rounds, the first of which will be in Dubai in December.
The series is to again have the opening two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town. The change to that of 2016-2017 sees the end of the Wellington 7’s. With struggling crowds the event has been moved to Hamilton. The new home of Tyler Ardron will also be the setting for the New Zealand leg of the competition.
The competition will come to the Americas for rounds 5 and 6. The Las Vegas 7’s will be played on March 2-4 and is to immediately be followed by the Vancouver 7’s on March 10-11.
Altered dates see the Paris 7’s pushed back to May 26-27 and the London 7’s to June 2-3. This is in part due to a concern of overplaying athletes. It is also to make room for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The USA will host the Rugby Sevens World Cup in July. The tournament is to be played at AT&T Park, the home of baseball’s San Francisco Giants. The three day tournament will be played from July 20-22.