The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 has announced its tournament seedings and how they fit into a new knockout format as the competition closes in on 100 days until it gets underway.

The tournament, which features the world’s top men’s and women’s teams, will be played over three days at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 20-22.

Bay area rugby fans-did you ever imagine you'd watch the @SFGiants and come home with a Giants branded rugby ball? Well, @SFGEnterprises has made that a reality! Build the buzz for @WorldRugby7s hosted in @sfgov this summer. Spread the word and I'll see you May 14th at AT&T Park pic.twitter.com/GYg4RCXx8K

— Dan Payne (@danpayne_USAR) April 10, 2018

With the seedings for the 24-team men’s and 16-team women’s competitions now finalized, World Rugby expects to announce the match schedule shortly, enabling fans to start to plan their tournament experience. 

Seedings

Here are the men's seedings:

1. South Africa; 2. Fiji; 3. New Zealand; 4. England; 5. USA; 6. Australia; 7. Argentina; 8. Scotland; 9. Kenya; 10. Canada; 11. France; 12. Wales; 13. Samoa; 14. Russia; 15. Japan; 16. Ireland; 17. Chile; 18. Uruguay; 19. Hong Kong; 20. Uganda; 21. Zimbabwe; 22. Jamaica; 23. Papua New Guinea; 24. Tonga

Here are the women's seedings:  

1. New Zealand; 2. Australia; 3. Canada; 4. Russia; 5. USA; 6. Fiji; 7. France; 8. England; 9. Ireland; 10. Spain; 11. Japan; 12. China; 13. South Africa; 14. Brazil; 15. Papua New Guinea; 16. Mexico

Men's RWC 7s defending champion New Zealand is seeded No. 3, while the women's defending champion, also New Zealand, is No. 1.

The USA is seeded fifth in both competitions, which is a good seed to have and could well work in both Eagles teams' favor.

Men's Format

In the men’s competition, seeds Nos. 1-8 are the quarterfinalists from the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow and have been seeded according to their ranking in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Seeds Nos. 9-14 qualified through the 2016-17 World Series, and have been seeded according to current series rankings, while seeds Nos. 15-24 qualified via regional tournaments over the last year.

The lower 16 (seeds Nos. 9-24) teams play off in a single, somewhat controversial knockout round to start the event. The winners go on to play the top eight seeds in the round of 16.

Women's Format

The women’s competition is similar to that of the men's competition. Seeds Nos. 1-4 qualified via Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 semifinal participation and were seeded according to current HSBC Women’s Sevens Series rankings. Seeds Nos. 5-8 qualified via the last series and are seeded according to current series rankings. Seeds Nos. 9-16 qualified via regional tournaments over the last year.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 is set to be a very special, landmark event. Not only is it the first Rugby World Cup event in the USA, but we have are introducing an innovative schedule that will mean teams wishing to lift the iconic Melrose Cup and Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens Trophy will need to win every match.

“We believe that this format will be popular with fans, further reflecting our mission to deliver an outstanding experience for fans and teams in one of the world’s best-known and best-loved cities.”