With over 100,000 fans passing through the turnstiles over three days to generate a festive atmosphere in the true Cape Town tradition, the eighth edition of World Rugby’s Sevens World Cup has been hailed as a major success.
The smooth running of the tournament, which was held on African soil for the first time, could pave the way for other African countries to host the tournament and other international events in future.
“There are pathways like the Challenger tournament for countries to host the bigger events,” said Alan Gilpin, chief executive of World Rugby.
He added that the Sevens tournament, which featured 40 teams in total, with 24 men’s and 16 women’s sides, provided a great opportunity for other African countries to host a World Cup in future.
The Challenger Series, which sees 12 men’s and women’s teams participating, was introduced in 2020 to boost Sevens’ development across the world, with the winners gaining promotion to the World Series.
The latest Challenger Series tournament was hosted in August by Chile.
Despite the World Cup’s success, the knockout format and the long sessions, which lasted from 10am in the morning until after 11pm, came in for criticism from many fans and sections of the media.
“This event is unique given the number of teams and we’ll look at the feedback we get from players and spectators,” Gilpin told the media.
“Certainly, it’s not fixed in stone for the future.”