Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: when does tournament start? Dates, venues, participating nations and how to watch

The Rugby Sevens World Cup takes place later this week with 24 of the best nations from the men’s series and 16 of the top women’s sides set to participate.

South Africa will be the host nation for the eighth edition of the quadrennial event with New Zealand returning in both tournaments to defend the titles their teams won in 2018.

The home nations will be represented by England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the men’s event and by England and Ireland in the women’s event.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2022 event including when and where it will be played, all the teams set to take part and how to watch the action in the UK:

Rugby World Cup Sevens dates and venue

The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens will take place between Friday, September 9 and Sunday, September 11.

Previously, the tournament had been held in July but was pushed back this year so as not to clash with the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The entire tournament will be played at one venue, the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town - the first time the tournament has ever been held in Africa.

Which nations are taking part in the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens?

In the men’s event, the eight teams who reached the quarter-final stage of the 2018 tournament automatically qualified for the event along with host nation South Africa.

They are then joined by 16 continental qualifiers made up of three from Africa, two from North America, two from South America, two from Asia, four from Europe and three from Oceania.

The 24 nations participating in the 2022 men’s Rugby World Cup Sevens are:

• South Africa
• United States
• Argentina
• England
• France
• Scotland
• Fiji
• New Zealand
• Uganda
• Zimbabwe
• Kenya
• Canada
• Jamaica
• Chile
• Uruguay
• Hong Kong
• South Korea
• Germany
• Ireland
• Portugal
• Wales
• Australia
• Samoa
• Tonga

In the women’s event, the four semi-finalists from 2018 and tournament hosts South Africa automatically qualify and are joined by 11 continental qualifiers made up of one from Africa, one from North America, two from South America, four from Europe and one from Oceania.

The 16 teams taking part in the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens are:

• South Africa
• United States
• France
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Madagascar
• Canada
• Brazil
• Colombia
• China
• Japan
• England
• Ireland
• Poland
• Spain
• Fiji

How to watch 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens on UK TV

ITV will broadcast a highlights show of the action from each day on ITV4 at 11pm (BST) on Friday, September 9 then at 11:30pm on Saturday, September 10 and at 11pm on Sunday, September 11.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 tournament format

Both the men’s and women’s events operate as a straight knock-out tournament, unlike the Rugby World Cup (15s) where there is a group stage.

The men’s event will start off with a preliminary round then move on to a Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and eventually the final.

However, the tournament doesn’t end for the sides eliminated in the preliminary round as they drop out of the competition and into the ‘Bowl’ competition, where they will be able to compete for a secondary piece of silverware.

The women’s event begins immediately with the Round of 16.