European Qualifiers For RWC Sevens To Be Held In Bucharest

Rugby Europe and the Romanian Rugby Union have announced the dates and venue for the Men’s and Women’s European qualifiers for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022.

The qualifying tournaments will take place at the Arc of Triumf Stadium in Bucharest over the weekend of July 16-17, with both the Ireland Men’s and Women’s Sevens teams involved.

They are part of 12-strong fields at the event in Romania, and the top four finishers in each competition will qualify for the Sevens World Cup in Cape Town in September.

Both Ireland teams played in the 2018 RWC Sevens in San Francisco, having qualified via the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series. The Ireland Women finished sixth Stateside, while the men’s team won the Challenge Trophy as ninth place finishers.

Bucharest has been a happy hunting ground for Ireland teams in the past, with the Under-18 Men’s Sevens side winning the European title there in 2016, two years after Emerging Ireland were crowned Nations Cup champions in the Romania capital.

A busy schedule of Rugby Europe Sevens action – with the Aiden McNulty-coached Ireland Women in the Championship Series and the Men’s side, coached by James Topping, in the Trophy Series – will provide the lead-in to Bucharest.

McNulty’s charges are coming off the back of a best ever World Series finish of fourth, their stellar campaign including silver in Seville, bronze in Langford, and a World Series awards hat-trick for Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, the overall top try scorer and a Dream Team member.

Topping’s men also have Terry Kennedy in talismanic form as the Men’s World Series leading try scorer on 47. They recently reached their first ever Cup final on the circuit, in Toulouse, and have achieved four top six finishes in the last five tournaments.

Already qualified for Cape Town on the back of their 2018 RWC Sevens placings are France (Men and Women), Scotland (Men) and England (Men).

The tournaments in Bucharest include teams involved in the 2021 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series and a number of teams from this year’s Rugby Europe Trophy Series 2022. The list of participating nations is as follows:

Ticketing and TV broadcast coverage will be announced in due course.