The Imbokodo will return to action at home after World Rugby announced that Stellenbosch would host the Sevens Challenger Series next month.
Twelve teams from all six World Rugby regions will be competing for a coveted place as a core team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2021 season.
Apart from the Springbok Women’s Sevens team, the other nations in action are Argentina, Belgium, China, Colombia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Poland and Scotland.
Watch: Imbokodo make first Cape Town Sevens appearance
The Sevens Challenger Series is a new competition designed to boost rugby sevens’ development across the globe.
The #Imbokodo very happy to have another opportunity to play in front of home crowd says @zintlempupha pic.twitter.com/5gm4ewi62g
— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) February 11, 2020
The tournament format will have the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four teams that will compete towards a grand final where the winner gains core-team status on the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2021, replacing the bottom-placed core team at the end of this season and providing a clear and consistent pathway for teams to progress and play against the world’s best.
‘We are thrilled to be hosting the inaugural Sevens Challenger Series event for women and grateful to World Rugby for the opportunity,’ SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said.
‘This tournament will provide our enthusiastic supporters with yet another opportunity to see top female sevens athletes in action, something we experienced for the first time last year at the Cape Town Sevens.’
The tournament will run at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch from 28-29 March 2020.
It will be the first competitive series for the Imbokodo this year, after they played at the Cape Town Sevens for the first time in 2019.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
