Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany qualify for men's HSBC SVNS Play-Off in Madrid

Uruguay have won the final round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 in Munich as well as the overall series title and will now go to Madrid for the HSBC SVNS Play-Off in Madrid, on 31 May to 2 June, together with fellow qualifiers Kenya, Chile and Germany.

Los Teros Sevens were the dominant team throughout the three-tournament Challenger series, backing up their win on home soil in Montevideo in March with their second title of the year to finish top of the standings on 56 points.

Uruguay beat Germany 21-19 in a pulsating final, while Hong Kong China, who just missed out on the top four, had the consolation of the bronze medal. 

Kenya failed to make the semi-finals on this occasion but a fifth-place finish was enough for them to finish as runners-up to Uruguay in the final standings. 

WOLFPACK DENIED TITLE ON DRAMATIC LAST DAY 

South American rivals Uruguay and Chile went into the third and final round of the Challenger in the top two positions, followed by Kenya, with Hong Kong China and Germany locked together on the same amount of points in the battle to claim a place in the top four come the end of the Challenger series.

All five teams had safely made it through to the quarter-finals after the opening day's play to set things up nicely for Sunday at the sun-baked Dantestadion in Munich.

Fans were kept on the edge of their seats, with the home supporters in particular put through an emotional rollercoaster, as the action lived up to its billing. 

The Wolfpack had to progress further in the tournament than Hong Kong China to claim one of the top four places in the final standings but their dreams nearly ended at the quarter-final stage against Kenya when they had Ben Ellermann sent off. 

However, despite playing with a man down for seven minutes and trailing for most of the contest, Germany held their nerve to fashion a score for the lightning-quick Jakob Dipper, Felix Hufnagel drilling over the conversion for a thrilling 19-17 win and a date with Hong Kong China in the semi-finals. 

Hong Kong China had made short work of Tonga, winning their quarter-final 42-14, while Uruguay eased past Georgia 24-7 and Chile confirmed their place in the last four with a 24-14 win against Uganda.

German hearts were again racing in the shoot-out with Hong Kong China. The match was tied at 14-14 and appeared to be heading for golden point extra time but Wolfpack head coach Pablo Feijoo played a blinder when he introduced Makonnen Amekuedi into the action with just over a minute to go.  

Amekuedi, who had scored a brace against Kenya, scored with his first touch after collecting the ball around halfway and using his pace to beat the cover defence on the outside.

The other semi-final, an all-South America affair, was much more one-sided, with Uruguay seeing off Chile 24-0 thanks to tries from 
Guillermo Lijtenstein, Mateo Vinals, Diego Ardao and Ignacio Facciolo.

Kenya's partisan support – only outnumbered by those cheering on Germany – took great delight in seeing the Shujaa sign off with a record 50-0 win against East African rivals Uganda in the fifth-place play-off.

The Shujaa did their supporters proud, producing a top-level performance that saw them run in eight tries, with Patrick Odongo Okong'o and Nygel Pettersan Amaitsa both crossing twice.

An ultimately disappointing weekend for Hong Kong China at least ended on a high with a 12-0 win against Chile in the bronze medal match.

Both sides had a try disallowed in a scoreless first half but with a few forthright words from coach Jevon Groves still bringing in their ears, Hong Kong China started the second period brightly and quickly scored the first points of the match through Cado Lee. 

It was another veteran, Max Denmark, who doubled their lead with his sixth try of the weekend and that score proved enough as Chile failed to register any points for the second consecutive match.

The final was a fitting climax to a brilliant two days at the spiritual home of German rugby even if the result was not what the majority had hoped for.

Uruguay bossed the early exchanges and held a deserved 14-0 lead inside six minutes after tries from Felipe Arcos Perez and Juan González.

However, this German team never knows when they are beaten and that man Amekuedi came up with another brilliant double on either side of the interval to get them right back into the match.

Luis Diel scored a third try for Germany, which Niklas Koch converted to make it 19-14 to Germany. But a re-energised Uruguay found an immediate response through their inspirational captain, Diego Ardao, to level the scores and Juan Manuel Tafernaberry knocked over the all-important conversion. 

There was still just over a minute to go at that point but Los Teros used all their experience to close out the win and confirm their status as the best sevens team at this level.