Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2024
The Japan Rugby Football Union is delighted to announce the format for this year’s Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2024. First played in 2014, the series has grown into one of the major events on the domestic women’s rugby calendar, and is a key pillar in the development and promotion of the women’s game in Japan.
The 2024 addition will see four tournaments played across four separate venues in April and May. The opening round will be played in Kitakyushu for the first time, while the fourth and final tournament will be played at the iconic Hanazono Rugby Stadium after the Higashi-Osaka venue successfully hosted its first Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens tournament last year.
”The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series contributes enormously to the growth of the women’s game here in Japan. With the interest in Sevens increasing significantly following its inclusion as an Olympic sport in 2009, it became crucial that we had a national competition to allow our best players from across the country to compete against each other. The series is not only fundamental to our growth in Sevens, but also provides us an opportunity to identify talent that can cross over to our elite Fifteens programmes,” commented Akane Kagawa, JRFU Director of Women’s Rugby.
“Providing regular, high quality and well-organized competitions is key to improving the performance of our national teams in both Sevens and Fifteens. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Taiyo Seimei Corporation for their ongoing support of women’s rugby and thank the regional and local rugby unions, as well as all the volunteers who make this event possible.”
Women’s rugby has grown significantly in Japan with the number of registered players more than doubling over the last decade. The Taiyo Seimei Women’s Seven Series has become a key platform for the game, not only delivering a multi-tournament series that takes place across the country, but also providing player pathways into Japan’s national Sevens and Fifteens programmes.
Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2024:
- Four tournaments – Kitakyushyu, Kumagaya, Suzuka & Higashi-Osaka
- 12 core teams (The 11 top-ranked teams form the 2023 series and one team that won selection following the promotion tournament in August 2023)
- 2024 series to see Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushyu host a tournament for the first time
Series Schedule:
April 6 & 7, 2024
Venue: Mikuni World Stadium
Tournament Two – Kumagaya
April 20 & 21, 2024
Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
Tournament Three – Suzuka
May 5 & 6, 2024
Venue: Mie Kotsu G Sports Forest Suzuka Stadium
Tournament Four – Higashi-Osaka
May 25 & 26, 2024
Venue: Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashi-Osaka
12 Core Teams & (2023 Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series Result)
- Nagato Blue Angels (1st)
- Nippon Sports Science University Women’s Rugby Club (2nd)
- Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix Rugby Club (3rd)
- Nanairo Prism Fukuoka (4th)
- PEARLS (5th)
- Yokohama TKM (6th)
- Arukas Queen Kumagaya Women’s Sevens Rugby Football Club (7th)
- Otemon Gakuin Rugby Club VENUS (8th)
- JSDF Physical Training School (9th)
- Challenge Team (10th)
- Nihon Keizai University Women’s Rugby Club (11th)
- Yokogawa Musahino Artemi-Stars (Promoted 2023)
Fans can catch the action live at all four stadiums free of charge across the eight days of competiton. All four rounds of the Taiyo Seimei Women’s Sevens Series 2024 will also be live streamed on JAPAN RUGBY TV at https://www.youtube.com/user/jrfuofficial