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

The opening day of the concluding round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025 got underway in Krakow with the first six teams securing their place in the HSBC SVNS Play-Off which is set to take place in Los Angeles on 3-4 May.

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.

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 11am local time with the men’s and women’s finals at 5.47pm and 6.15pm 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.