HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2020 Japan take Bronze in Vina del Mar

Vina del Mar, Chile

15-16 February 2020

 

The first leg of the inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2020 was held at the Estadio Sausalito in Vina del Mar, Chile over the weekend of 15-16 February 2020. The competition aims to boost rugby sevens’ development across the globe.

 

The sixteen teams that competed at Vina del Mar were: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Portugal, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

 

At Vina del Mar, Japan were in Pool A along with Uruguay, Portugal and Tonga.

 

In their pool games, Japan beat Uruguay 17-12 in their opening game on Saturday then beat Portugal 40-0 later in the afternoon. In the evening, Japan beat Tonga 33-7 to top their pool with nine points from three straight wins.

 

In the quarterfinals on Sunday, Japan beat Zimbabwe 33-0. Later, in the semi-finals, Japan met their match when they were downed 12-5 by Germany. However, the Japanese side went on to collect third place overall with a 31-14 win over Chile in the bronze medal play-off.

 

In the final, Germany beat Hong Kong 10-0.

 

Germany lead the standings with 22 points from Hong Kong on 19 points and Japan on 17 points.

 

The second leg of the series will be held at the Estadio Charrua in Montevideo in Uruguay from 22-13 February 2020.

 

 

 

Pools

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Japan	Hong Kong	Germany	Chile
Tonga	Jamaica	Uganda	Zimbabwe
Portugal	PNG	Italy	Brazil
Uruguay	Colombia	Paraguay	Mexico

 

 

Pool A Games for Japan

Saturday, 15 February 2020

 

Match No.6 – 12:53: Japan 17 d Uruguay 12

Match No.14 – 15:59: Japan 40 d Portugal 0

Match No.22 – 19:35: Japan 33 d Tonga 7

 

 

 

Knock-out Stage Results for Japan

Sunday, 16 February 2020

 

Quarterfinals

Japan 33 d Zimbabwe 0

 

Semi-finals

Germany 12 d Japan 5

 

Third-place Play-off

Japan 31 d Chile 14