World Rugby has been blasted as “shameful, unprofessional and Machiavellian” after the global governing body overhauled the world sevens series ahead of this weekend’s tournament in Los Angeles.
It was confirmed on Thursday that an “evolved”, three-tier model would be implemented for the 2025-26 campaign in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics with the aim to deliver “long-term financial stability”.
Before the official announcement, however, USA player Stephen Tomasin released a video on Instagram claiming World Rugby were about to “cut four teams off the bottom of the world series”.
This will take effect this weekend, when the top eight of the 12 teams on the current world series, set to form the top circuit in 2025-26, will compete in a tournament separate to those between ninth and 12th.