The pools and match schedule have been announced for the HSBC USA Women’s Sevens, the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2020.

Hosted at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado, from 5-6 October, the HSBC USA Women’s Sevens will mark the start of the Olympic season for rugby sevens as the sport prepares to make its second appearance on the Olympic Games program in Tokyo next summer.

The HSBC USA Women’s Sevens tournament was first introduced in 2018 and is now one of eight tournaments on the women’s series – a record number for the women’s competition – with six of those combined with men’s events.

Having earned promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in 2019, Brazil are welcomed as one of the 11 core teams that will kick off the season in Glendale, alongside invitational side Japan.

Pool A will see reigning champions New Zealand face England, Russia and Japan.

2019 runners-up, USA, will be joined by France, Ireland and Brazil in Pool B, while in Pool C, Canada and Australia – who finished third and fourth place respectively last season – take on Spain and Fiji.

2019 was a hugely competitive season on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with the top four teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions earning automatic qualification to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

New Zealand, USA, Australia and Canada will be joined in Tokyo by host nation Japan, as well as Brazil and Great Britain – qualified via nominated nation, England – who are the first two teams to secure their spots through the regional qualification process.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont commented: “After a very successful 2018 event, we are delighted to be returning to Glendale for the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2020. Glendale kicks off what will be a monumental season for rugby sevens and women’s rugby. We will see the women’s series increase to eight rounds for the first time in history before the year culminates with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where rugby sevens will be showcased on the world’s biggest sporting stage for the second time.

“Rugby sevens has experienced exponential growth in the United States in recent years with the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco attracting a record attendance for a rugby event in the USA of 100,000. The HSBC USA Women’s Sevens plays a crucial role in continuing to expand the reach of the sport within this key market and are very much looking forward to being hosted in Glendale once again where we will celebrate the start of a very special season.”

Emilie Bydwell, General Manager for Women's High Performance at USA Rugby added: “We're so excited to kick off the Olympic season at home and in Glendale, CO. This is an amazing opportunity for our players to compete in front of their friends and family at the start of such a big year. We hope to not only continue our consistency in performance this season but to leverage HSBC USA Women's Sevens in Glendale as a platform to inspire the growth of the game in America. We are extremely grateful to the city of Glendale and World Rugby for the opportunity to host another exciting sevens event in the United States."

Packages for the full weekend are available for $20 for adults and $10 for children. VIP packages are also available which include catered food and beverages. For more information on how to purchase tickets, click here.