Vancouver to host World Rugby 7s for 8th time in slimmed-down competition

Vancouver has made the cut in the slimmed-down HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, rebranded as HSBC SVNS.

The revamped competition features eight events, each offering men's and women's play.

Last season's Seven Series consisted of 11 men's and seven women's events. All the women's competition took place in tandem with stops on the men's circuit.

The new-look schedule begins Dec. 2-3 in Dubai followed by stops in Cape Town (Dec. 9-10), Perth, Australia (Jan. 26-28), Vancouver (Feb. 23-25), Los Angeles (March 2-3), Hong Kong (April 5-7), Singapore (May 3-5) and Madrid (May 31-June 2).

That means no events in London, Sydney (Australia), Hamilton (New Zealand) and Toulouse (France) all of which hosted stops last season. Hong Kong staged two events.

It's good news for Rugby Canada. The Canada Sevens is a money-maker for the cash-strapped governing body, as shown by 2018 when it drew a combined 77,000 fans over two days at B.C. Place Stadium.

The 2023 Canada Sevens marked the eighth time the Sevens Series has come to Vancouver, but the first that full men's and women's play was staged concurrently at the event.

Previously the Canadian women's event was held in Langford, B.C. A trimmed-down competition with both men and women was held in Vancouver during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.

The changes are the latest from World Rugby, which moved in recent years to combine more men's and women's events and even the number of teams for both.

"For the first time in rugby sevens history, all locations will be unified under the same approach, meaning that the overall experience is the same and we can optimize commercial revenue for reinvestment, including playing our part in ensuring that sevens is a viable career path for the