Shujaa flirting with relegation from World Rugby Sevens Series after three dismal outings

After the opening three outings of the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the men’s national rugby 7s side, Shujaa, find themselves wallowing deeply in the relegation places as they currently sit in 14th place out of the sixteen team competition after managing only nine points in the three legs played.

With World Rugby announcing a new framework that will see the men’s teams in the Series reduced from 16 to 12 starting from next season to align with the Olympic competition model and to bring the number of men’s and women’s teams even, the team have its work cut out in the remaining eight legs of the campaign if they are to avoid relegation.

Cape Town 7s: Spirited Shujaa beat Canada to finish tournament in 13th place

How will relegation be decided from the men’s Series 2023?

The 15th ranked core team based on accumulated Series points following the tenth round in Toulouse will be relegated.

The teams ranked 12th, 13th and 14th at the end of Toulouse will enter a four-team relegation play-off together with the Challenger Series 2023 winners at the eleventh and final round of the Series in London.

The relegation play-off will be round-robin format with the top two teams then playing a final.

The winner will become the 12th core team on the 2024 Series, while the other three teams will enter their respective Regional Sevens Championships in order to qualify for the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series.

The Challenger Series will continue to provide a pathway for teams to qualify for the World Rugby Sevens Series.

How have Shujaa performed so far?

The Damian McGrath currently coached side had a woeful start to the season as they finished last in the season opening outing held in Hong Kong back in November where they finished in last place, garnering only one point after losing all its matches.

In the second outing that took place in Dubai, Shujaa managed an 11th placed finish where they took five points for their exploits.

In the recently concluded Cape Town 7s, the team finished in 13th place which gave them three points leading to a total of nine points after the three outings.

Spain on 13 points (12th), Canada with 11 points (13th) are the other two teams in the positions that will enter a relegation play-off with the World Rugby Challenger Series champions at the last round of the Series in London in May 2023.

Newly promoted Uruguay earned a valuable ten points with their seventh place finish in Cape Town to move up to 11th position on 20 points, the same as Great Britain who are above them in tenth on points difference.

2023 Series Standings

The Series takes a festive break before returning in Hamilton, New Zealand on 21-22 January and Sydney, Australia on 27-29 January as the race of Series glory and Paris 2024 Olympic qualification continues.