World Rugby has confirmed the schedule for the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Series.
The 2022 Series will feature ten men’s and seven women’s rounds over six months, kicking off with a pair of combined events in Dubai from off 26-27 November.
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Following the cancellation of the Sydney and Hamilton legs of the tour, they will be replaced by two rounds in Spain as they head to Malaga (21-23 January 2022) and Seville (28-30 January).
The men’s tour continues with North American rounds in Vancouver (26-27 February) and Los Angeles (5-6 March) before moving to Asia where Hong Kong returns to host a combined men’s and women’s event on 1-3 April.
This will be followed by a men’s event in Singapore (9-10 April) before the women head to Langford, Canada (30 April-1 May) for a standalone leg.
Both tours will head to a new venue in Toulouse, France (20-22 May) where the women’s champions will be crowned with the men’s series concluding with the final event in London on 28-29 May.
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “Following an outstandingly competitive and highly impactful Olympic Games competition it is fantastic to announce a full schedule for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 today.
“Alongside popular and traditional rugby sevens venues it will be exciting to take the Series to new venues in Spain and France as the game continues to expand and captivate new audiences around the world with its fast, skilful and thrilling format. Rugby sevens is a key driver of global growth for our sport, particularly in emerging nations, and it firmly remains a top priority for our organisation.
“A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure we can announce a full Series schedule today and we thank HSBC, the host organisations, unions, commercial and broadcast partners for their unwavering support and spirit of collaboration as we navigate the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic together.
“We now look ahead to the return of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series at full throttle ahead of what promises to be a very busy and exciting year for sevens with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town following the Series.
“As ever, the health and welfare of players, fans and wider society continues to be our primary concern and we will work closely with all stakeholders to ensure the safe delivery of the Series.”
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Australia are amongst the core teams that will compete in both the men's and women's competitions, with Japan added to the men's as a core team following their promotion after winning the Challenger Series in 2020.
World Rugby also confirmed Great Britain will compete in the opening two rounds of the Series in Dubai before splitting into their respective nations in 2022.
This comes after they finished this year's shortened campaign as the combined countries, with a points system set to be developed that 'promotes fairness' for the individual nations and any country affected by the ongoing restrictions of COVID.
