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World Rugby is pondering a change to how Sevens Series weekends are run, CEO Brett Gosper has acknowledged.

Speaking on Saturday at the London Sevens with commentators Rupert Cox and Ollie Phillips, Gosper suggested the knock-out format that will be used at this summer’s Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco could be used on a regular basis, beginning with the 2019-20 season.

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The traditional sevens format sees 16 teams divided into four pools on day one for round-robin action, with the top two teams in each pool playing off, beginning with cup quarterfinals, on day two; the bottom two teams in each pool also playoff in similar format in a consolation bracket. As teams are playing for seeding, even if they lose once on the second day, they still get at least one more game.

A format change is about finding slots for more women’s tournaments.

“We’re trying to get more women’s tournaments aligning with the men’s tournaments, playing at the same time, at the same destination,” Gosper said. The challenge, of course, if you add a dozen women’s teams, you need to find a way to loosen the schedule.

Mike Friday, coach of the American men’s team, wasn’t a fan of the format.

“Let’s hope common sense prevails and straight knockout format is never adopted on (the world sevens series) otherwise we may as well all just play roulette,” he tweeted on Sunday. “Women’s game can stand on its own two feet and if some feel not maybe work with much needed men’s second league to establish commercial viability.”