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World Rugby have announced a $2.5 million USD funding boost to help beleaguered World Sevens Series teams but the news is not all good. At the same time there is confirmation that the Oceania leg – Hamilton and Sydney – has been cancelled for the 2020-2021 season.
Unions who have qualified for the Olympics already are eligible to request financial support to help cover costs in the lead up to Tokyo. Along with hosts Japan, that list includes Argentina, Canada, Brazil and the USA in the Americas, plus Australia, China, Fiji, Great Britain, Kenya, and South Korea.
Three qualification spots are yet to be decided, two in the women’s draw and one in the men’s. Those will be decided in a final qualification tournament on a date to be decided. Competing teams from the Americas include Argentina, Colombia, Jamaica, and Mexico in the women’s draw, and Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, and Mexico in the men’s.
The cash injection comes at a time when both England and Wales have suspended their programs with others considering their short-term future on the circuit. It remains to be seen which teams participate on a truncated circuit that looks unlikely to resume before April.
That timeline, explicitly stated in the media release, suggests that both the Vancouver and Los Angeles events on the men’s calendar will be rescheduled. Both unions are reluctant to see their money-making tournaments cancelled. Decisions will need to be made soon with a narrow window between April and the Olympics in August. It means the Series will include no more than six stops with Dubai and Cape Town already cancelled.
