Pulsating opening day in Krakow at the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger

• Canada lead the men’s competition after winning all three of their games with Germany’s bonus point and two victories seeing them in close second.
• South Africa sit top of the women’s competition following three impressive wins with Argentina and Kenya tied in second place with a pair of victories each on day one.
• Argentina, Kenya and South Africa Women and Canada, Germany and Portugal men are the first teams to qualify for the SVNS Play-Off competition in Los Angeles.
• The knockout rounds begin from 11:00 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday 12 April with the men’s and women’s finals at 17:47 and 18:15 respectively.
• Fans around the globe can watch the action on rugbypass.tv

Following the opening pool games of the tournament, Argentina, Kenya and South Africa Women and Canada, Germany and Portugal men’s teams progressed to the Play-Off after finishing with the most cumulative points from across the three rounds of the Challenger, ensuring they could not be caught.

In the women’s Pools, Kenya got off to a flying start in their opening game securing a win against Belgium and their ticket to Los Angeles. It took until the second round for Argentina and South Africa to claim their place.

A passionate display from hosts Poland saw them close to denying The Las Yaguaretes qualification with two tries straight out of the gate but Argentina were able to shift the momentum with four tries in quick concession, sealing the win and seeing them through to the Play-Offs.

They will be joined by Springbok Women who ended the second round in style with seven tries against Czechia.

Argentina’s Grace Okulu commented after securing qualification: “It has been really amazing. The girls have worked really hard. We fell short last year and it was very painful but now that we have secured our way to LA, it really means a lot to us.”

Three play-off places were also secured in the men’s Pools for Canada, Germany and Portugal. Canada were able to take the edge in a closely contested match against Madagascar in their opener and continued their winning streak with two comfortable wins against Japan and Portugal.

Although Portugal were pipped by Canada in their final showdown of the day, they had already sealed their fate for the Play-Offs with two encouraging wins against Japan and Madagascar in the opening two rounds.

Portugal’s Captain Fabio Conceicao reflected following the win against Madagascar saying: “The feeling is amazing. We won this game and we are going to LA and fighting for the series next season. The next goal is to finish in the top four and go on to win the tournament here in Krakow.”

Germany’s final game of the day saw them scoop their place with a valiant win over Chile. The two final spots will be up for grabs in the final day of the tournament in Krakow which takes place on Saturday 12 April.

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Heading into day two, Germany sit top of men’s Pool A after securing an all-important bonus point taking them to seven points with Canada leading Pool B with nine points after winning all three of their games.

Three electrifying wins for South Africa see them lead the pack in Pool B with nine points with Thailand’s heroic efforts against Colombia and Belgium rewarding them with a total of seven points ensuring they sit top of Pool A.

The action continues at  Henryk Reyman's Municipal Stadium with knockout rounds from 11:00 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday 12 April with the men’s and women’s finals at 17:47 and 18:15 respectively.

The Challenger was introduced in February 2020 to boost the development of rugby sevens across the globe. The short format of the game has experienced huge growth over the past two decades since the introduction of the global sevens series and becoming an Olympic sport at the Rio 2016 Games.

The 2025 edition of the Challenger competition kicked off with combined events over two weekends in Cape Town on 1-2 and 7-8 March, followed by Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow on 11-12 April before the HSBC SVNS Play-off in Los Angeles on 3-4 May. 

Fans around the globe can watch the action on rugbypass.tv.