Belgium enter World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger
2024.01.10
Belgium women’s head coach Emiel Vermote is relishing the prospect of leading his team into the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024.
Together with this year’s bottom four SVNS teams, the top four teams from the three-event series will have the chance to compete for promotion to HSBC SVNS 2025 in a stand-alone tournament in Madrid in May.
And following two close calls on consecutive weekends in April of last year, when they finished second to the hosts South Africa in both finals held in Stellenbosch, Belgium will be one of the teams to watch when they travel to Dubai this weekend, Montevideo in March, and Krakow in May.
Under the leadership of Cécile Blondiau, the leading try scorer in the women’s Challenger Series the previous year, Belgium refined their preparations with a week-long training camp held in Liege. Prior to the holiday season, the team had completed a similar exercise in Faro, Portugal.
The top four mindset is what we want to establish consistently. As the team’s coach for the past five years, Vermote stated, “It’s about changing the mindset a little bit on the underdog position that Belgians love being in and being really ambitious going into a tournament.”
“I have never witnessed this squad win a tournament; they have never done so. We’ve participated in several finals. We know we can do it and what steps to take, so for me, winning one would be a pretty nice recognition in our progress and the way we work toward it. I saw a lot of opportunities since I am a very optimistic person.
“I am extremely convinced that we will finish in the top four at the conclusion of the tournament because we are prepared, are ready, and have a modest yet controlled vibe about us emiel said
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