After finishing the first stage in fifth place, in Cape Town, Portugal won the second tournament, also in the South African capital, and the third, now in Poland, totalling 52 points.

The ‘wolves’ came ahead of Germany, who, after finishing third in Krakow, finished with the same 52 points but did not win any stage of the competition. Canada, in fourth place in the third and final stage, completed the podium with 48 points.

Portugal had already secured qualification for the play-off for access to the World Rugby Sevens Series by qualifying for the semi-finals of the Krakow stage, which immediately guaranteed one of the first four places in the ‘Challenger’.

The ‘wolves’ beat Germany 24-17 in the semi-finals, with three tries from Fábio Conceição and one from Manuel Fati, a conversion from Bernardo Valente and another from Manuel Vareiro.

In the final, Portugal defeated the Samoan team 24-19. Fans were treated to a tantalising showdown with the teams due to go into half-time level had it not been for the impressive skill of Manuel Vareiro with an up-and-under-kick which saw them edge into the lead. Ultimately, Portugal was able to keep ahead with Fabio Conceicao, sealing their fate.

Portugal’s Captain Fabio Conceicao commented after the win: “It’s been amazing for us as a young group coming to this tournament with big teams. We knew we could beat anyone and that’s what we did; we showed it on the pitch.”

The 2025 World Sevens Challenger Series, which comprises of two legs in South Africa and one in Poland, is the first level of qualification for the World Rugby Sevens World Tour.

Only the top eight teams from the two Cape Town stages, played over the first two weekends of March, went on to the tournament in Krakow, Poland.

The four best teams at the end of the three stages, Portugal, Germany, Canada and Samoa, qualified for the knockout stages of the World Sevens Series, which will be played in Los Angeles, United States, on May 3 and 4.

The tournament in the United States will be contested by the four bottom-placed teams on the World Tour and the four Challenger teams and will qualify the four best teams for the World Rugby Tour next season.

Portugal is looking to regain a place on the World Circuit, where it was a resident team between 2012 and 2016.