Shujaa core team status for 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series confirmed

The men’s national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, will need not to worry anymore about the threat of relegation from the prestigious HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series after the completion of the 2022 campaign as they were confirmed as one of the 14 core teams for the 2023 season.

This is after England, Scotland and Wales took the joint decision for Great Britain Sevens (GB) to compete in the global tournament beginning with the 2023 Series consequently ensuring that no team would be relegated from the men’s 2022 season where Shujaa performed dismally and had been flirting with the bottom places with two teams initially set to have faced the drop.

In a statement posted by World Rugby Wednesday, the three nations made the decision to compete as Great Britain in order for them to align with their Olympic participation status and qualification pathway.

“World Rugby acknowledges and supports the decision taken jointly by the RFU, Scottish Rugby and the WRU for Great Britain Sevens (GB) to compete in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, beginning with the 2023 Series.

The decision, which aligns with their Olympic participation status and qualification pathway, means there will be no team relegated from the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022, as England, Scotland and Wales are replaced by a GB team, while GB will directly replace England in the women’s Series,” the statement read.

In the current 2022 Series, Shujaa are in 13th position having picked only 38 points from the eight outings so far played.

The 2022 finale of the men’s Series takes place in Los Angeles on 27-28 August in what promises to be a thrilling finale with four teams – South Africa, Australia, Argentina and Fiji - still in with a chance of claiming the Series title.

England, Scotland and Wales will however compete as individual nations in the Commonwealth Games, which take place at Coventry Stadium on 29-31 July, and Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town on 9-11 September.

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It has also been confirmed by the World Rugby Executive Committee that Russia’s women’s sevens team have been withdrawn from the 2023 campaign in line with the ongoing suspension of the Rugby Union of Russia from World Rugby membership and from participating in all international rugby competitions. As a result, Brazil will maintain their status as a core team in the women’s 2023 Series.

The winners of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series – both men and women- which takes place in Chile on 12-14 August, will gain promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023 with one invitational team added at each round of the Series, with 16 teams participating at each tournament.

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The 14 men’s core teams confirmed for the 2023 Series are: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Fiji, France, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, Spain and the USA