This weekend, our Hong Kong China Men’s and Women’s teams are set to compete in the first round of the revamped HSBC Sevens Challenger, with the aim to win a coveted spot on the newly reformatted World Rugby HSBC SVNS tournament. Read on for everything you need to know!

What’s at stake:

The new World Rugby HSBC SVNS competition features the top 12 men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams from around the world. Each season, there is a promotion/relegation opportunity, known as the HSBC Challenger for new teams to join the circuit, replacing the bottom ranked teams of the tournament. Teams qualify for the Challenger through a variety of regional tournaments. 

Who’s competing?

Men’s: Georgia, Papua New Guinea, Uruguay, Chile, Japan, Portugal, Tonga, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Uganda, Hong Kong China

Women’s: Belgium, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Uganda, China, Kenya, Mexico, Czechia, Argentina, Paraguay, Poland, Hong Kong China

What’s the format?

There are four tournaments over three rounds, plus a grand final. 

• Round 1: 12-14 January 2024, Men’s & Women’s combined, Dubai

• Round 2: 8-10 March 2024, Men’s and Women’s combined, Uruguay 

• Round 3: 18-19 May 2024, Women’s, Poland

• Round 3: 18-19 May 2024, Men’s, Germany 

The top four placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the third round will go on to compete in the final promotion/relegation tournament at the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid (31 May – 2 June 2024). They will play the bottom four ranked teams on the SVNS circuit, and a total of four men’s and four women’s teams combined from these playoffs will then join the 2024-2025 SVNS circuit. 

What’s on this weekend?

Both the Hong Kong China men’s and women’s teams are competing in the first round of the Challenger in Dubai. The squads are: 

Men’s (in Pool A with Georgia, Papua New Guinea and Uruguay)

Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST

Callum McCULLOUGH

Liam DOHERTY Harry SAYERS 

Max DENMARK

Bryn PHILLIPS 

Russell WEBB 

Sebastian BRIEN © 

FONG Kit Fung 

James CHRISTIE 

LEE Ka To Cado 

Liam HERBERT 

Women’s: (in Pool C with Argentina, Paraguay and Poland)

OLSON-THORNE Natasha ©

LI Nim Yan Melody Blessing ©

CHAN Chloe

AU YEUNG Sin Yi

NAM Ka Man

HO Jessica Wai On

POON Hoi Yan

CHONG Ka Yan

RIVERS Gabriella

MBA OYANA Julia Mibuy

LYNAM Sabay

CHAN Tsz Ching 

Hong Kong China Referees in action: Morgan White and Sunny Lee 

How can I watch the tournament? 

The HSBC Challenger is available to view on RugbyPass TV. Sign up for your free account here.