The Cape Town Stadium is an association football (soccer) and rugby union stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, that was built as part of the country's hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Rugby union in South Africa is a highly popular team sport, along with cricket and soccer, and is widely played all over the country. The national team is among the strongest in the world and has been ranked in at least the top seven of the World Rugby Rankings since its inception in 2003. The country hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and won again in 2007, 2019 and 2023.
Sport has a significant role in South African culture. The three most popular mainstream sports in the country — cricket, football and rugby — reflect the country's early British colonial influence. South Africa was absent from international sport for much of the apartheid era due to sanctions, but started competing globally after the end of apartheid. South Africa is among a very few countries which have participated in world cups of all three major sports — cricket, soccer, and rugby union. England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia are among other such nations. South Africa has hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The World Rugby SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successor to the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup held the previous season. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2015.
The men's tournament in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco. New Zealand won the tournament and took home the Melrose Cup by defeating England 33–12 in the final; South Africa won the bronze by defeating Fiji 24–19. The tournament was dominated by the World Series core teams, which accounted for all eight of the teams that reached the quarterfinals. Ireland was the highest placed non core team in ninth, notching wins against core teams Kenya, Wales, and Australia.
The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in September. It took place at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa between 9 and 11 September 2022. It was the first Rugby World Cup Sevens in Africa. The dates were chosen to take into account in the Commonwealth Games tournament which took place in July the same year.
The 2019–20 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the eighth edition of the global circuit for women's national rugby sevens teams, organised by World Rugby.
The World Rugby Sevens Challenger is an annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national teams run by World Rugby that includes men's and women's events. Sponsored by banking group HSBC, it is the second tier of competition below the SVNS. Teams on the respective men's and women's tours of the Challenger Series compete for promotion to the first tier as a core team.
The 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 22nd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, only two tournaments were played in the 2021 series instead of the usual ten. The number of teams participating was also reduced from sixteen to twelve at the tournaments, with many of the top teams from the previous series not taking part.
The women's tournament for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 9 to 11 September at the Cape Town Stadium.
The 2021 Canada Sevens was held as two rugby sevens tournaments on consecutive weekends in late September that year. The first was hosted at BC Place in Vancouver and the second at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. These events were played as the sixth season of the Canada Sevens. They were the only stops on the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, following the cancellation of all other planned tournaments due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021–22 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 23rd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999.
The 2021 Dubai Sevens was held as two rugby sevens tournaments on consecutive weekends in late November and early December that year. They were played as the fifty-first season of the Dubai Sevens, following the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The men's tournament for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 9 to 11 September at the Cape Town Stadium.
The 2023–24 SVNS was the 25th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national sevens teams, known as the World Rugby Sevens Series (SVNS). It took place between December 2023 and June 2024. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999.
In 2023 World Rugby re-branded the now legacy World Sevens series to a new World Rugby SVNS Series. Starting in December 2023 in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and will conclude in Madrid in June 2024. The new series will fully combine the men's and women's tours aligning with the Olympic competition model, with both taking place on the same weekends in the same cities and venues. Both men and women's teams will earn the same with equal participation fees. The tournament is built around the idea of bringing about a festival type atmosphere and serve as a build up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 2023–2024 season will be the inaugural season of the World Rugby SVNS Series now legacy World Sevens Series. The new combined men and women's tournaments will begin in December 2023 in Dubai and will travel to several cities across the world such as Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and will conclude in Madrid in June 2024.
The 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series for men's rugby sevens teams was the fourth season of the second-tier World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series that allowed a promotion pathway to the top-level SVNS.
The 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series for women's rugby sevens teams was the third season of the second-tier World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series that allowed a promotion pathway to the top-level SVNS.
The 2024–25 SVNS is the 26th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national sevens teams, known as the SVNS. It will take place between November 2024 and June 2025. The SVNS has been run by World Rugby since 1999.
Chile 
Brazil 
Germany 
Portugal 
Georgia 
Canada 
Uganda 
Madagascar 
Hong Kong 
Japan 
Samoa 
Tonga 
