Tonga Rugby Union Men’s Sevens team has qualified for the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup Sevens events held this year, announced Oceania Rugby on March 10.

Tonga qualified for these events through its rankings in the 2020-21 HSBC Men’s and Women’s Sevens Series and the 2019 Oceania Rugby Men’s and Women’s Sevens Championship.

Oceania Rugby [2] said this is because the qualification tournament that was supposed to be held in April 2022 was cancelled due to ongoing logistical challenges presented by COVID-19 and qualification deadlines.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on July 29-31, Tonga will join Australia, Samoa, Fiji, and New Zealand in the Men’s event.

And on September 9-11, Tonga will join New Zealand and Fiji at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Tonga Rugby Union CEO, Peter Harding, said Tonga is looking forward to competing against the world’s best in Sevens Rugby this year.

“We value the work that has been done by Oceania Rugby to bring the Oceania qualifications to life, but as we in Tonga know well, the challenges of the pandemic have made travel and movement close to impossible in the Pacific.”

“We understand that being handed qualification for the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup is a great honour for our team and union, and we do not underestimate the challenge ahead,” he said.