Tonga’s national men’s team will participate at the inaugural World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in February next year.

The development focused tournament will feature 16 predominately second-tier teams and will take place in two legs, the first in Chile from February 15-16 and the second in Uruguay from February 22-23.

World Rugby announced the new format yesterday 17 December,

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said in a statement yesterday 17 December,  “We are thrilled to launch the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in a pivotal year for rugby sevens ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,

“Rugby sevens continues to attract new fans around the globe with its fast-paced, athletic and highly skilled format. The new Sevens Challenger Series will help to develop the next generation of players and bring international sevens events to new nations, further growing the popularity of our Olympic sport”.

The teams that will compete in the 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series are Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Zimbabwe. They will be joined by three invitational teams from the Americas in Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay.