France women and Germany men take the lead on Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series 2026 after winning the first leg in Hamburg over an exciting tournament.
Over the three days between Friday and Sunday there were lots of twists and turns in the two 12-team events, but these two sides were the ones who were most consistent and, as a result, took home trophies and 20 valuable points.
In the women’s event in Germany, there was a shock when last year’s overall series winners Great Britain could only finish third in Pool A and missed out on the quarter-finals.
Belgium were the frontrunners in that four-team pool with three wins from three while Poland won three from three in Pool B and France won three from three in Pool, C.
Poland showed that they were going to be tough to beat with a 31-0 last eight triumph over Portugal before Spain scored two converted tries to get the better of Ireland.
Belgium then really had to dig deep to see off the well supported hosts Germany 7-5 in the third quarter-final before France defeated Czechia 29-5.
Poland and France then managed to set up a final meeting as they both won their semi-finals. In the first one, Poland beat Spain 19-7 and then France beat Belgium 22-12.
Neither side was ready to give up top spot easily after a long few days of sevens, but, in the end, France just edged the final 17-14 to spark celebrations.
Poland had to make do with second spot and 18 points while, in the bronze position and earning 16 points, were Belgium who saw off Spain - just - 7-5 in the third/fourth play-off.
After rankings matches, Germany finished fifth, Ireland were sixth, Czechia were seventh, Portugal were eighth, Denmark were ninth, Great Britain were 10th, Sweden were 11th and Türkiye were 12th.
In the men’s event in Germany, last year’s overall series winners France topped Pool A with three wins from three.
Germany, cheered on by the home crowd, did the same in Pool B while Georgia did the same in Pool C.
The cheers continued for Germany in the first of the quarter-finals when they got the better of Great Britain 26-12 and then Belgium joined them in the semis by beating Portugal 24-19.
Given they were 2025 overall winners, France were still a team to definitely look out for especially when you have two olympic medalists in the team (Parez and Sefo). They lived up to that billing with a 27-0 triumph over Spain in their quarter-final.
Italy, who had finished third in Pool C and lost to Georgia 26-19 in that phase of the competition, then caused a surprise to defeat Georgia 19-17 and get through to the last four.
Germany’s great run continued in semi-final number one as they defeated Belgium 19-0 then France were just too strong for Italy and came out on top 33-14.
The final was set up to be a cracker between Germany and France and the hosts were on fire to win 26-7 with celebrations kicking off as a result and them picking up 20 points.
France took 18 points from their run to being runners-up while 16 points and the bronze medal went to Italy who defeated Belgium 26-12 in the third/fourth play-off.
After rankings matches, Portugal were fifth, Spain were sixth, Great Britain were seventh, Georgia were eighth, Czechia were ninth, Ukraine were 10th, Lithuania were 11th and Poland were 12th.
Next up in the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series for 2026 is the second and final round later this month.
Between July 24 and 26 in Split, Croatia, the 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams will do the same before the overall champions are crowned in both categories. At that stage, the two last ranked teams in both categories will be relegated to the Trophy for 2027.
By Gary Heatly
