The World Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. The series, organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season, was formed to develop an elite-level competition series between rugby nations and develop the sevens game into a viable commercial product for World Rugby. The competition was originally known as the IRB World Sevens Series, but has been known officially as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series since 2014 due to sponsorship from banking group HSBC.
The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition. The Hong Kong Sevens is currently the seventh tournament on the World Series calendar, and is held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. The tournament spans three days, beginning on a Friday and concluding on Sunday. The tournament is organised each year by the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU). This year hong kong rugby sevens will be held on Friday 3, Saturday 4, Sunday 5 April 2020.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country.
The Mexico national rugby sevens team participates in competitions such as the World Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens. Mexico were Shield semi-finalists in the 2008 USA Sevens and were ranked 6th in the 2011 Pan American Games.
The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the IRB World Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in five Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes annually in European competition. Ireland participates in the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, having been promoted to the Grand Prix competition after winning the 2016 Rugby Europe Trophy division. Ireland has previously competed in individual tournaments within World Rugby Sevens Series, and has stated its goal of winning promotion to core team status in the World Series.
The 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series was the eleventh of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. Samoa won the IRB Sevens World Series crown for their first time.
The Africa Women's Sevens is the continental championship for women's international rugby sevens in Africa. The tournament sanctioned and sponsored by Rugby Africa which is the rugby union governing body for the continent.
The Premiership Rugby Sevens Series is a friendly Rugby Sevens competition for the twelve Premiership Rugby clubs that will play the following season. It was started in 2010, as an off-season competition, held during the months of July and August. Between 2014 and 2016 the competition included the four Welsh regions which compete in the Pro14.
The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of the IRB Sevens World Series tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.
The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was the 37th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament and the sixth tournament of the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series. The host stadium was the Hong Kong Stadium.
The 2013 Hong Kong Sevens was the 38th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens and the sixth tournament of the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series. It was hosted by its long-time home, Hong Kong Stadium.
Of the twenty-four nations involved in 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens, nineteen were invited and five had to go through pre-tournament 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying. Four of the qualification places were won by Namibia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Spain who booked their places by reaching the semi-finals of one qualifying event in Sicily. Latvia won their place by beating Russia in the final of a mini-tournament staged in Moscow to decide who would replace the USSR, which had broken up since its invite to the world cup.
The 2017 Asia Rugby Sevens Series is the tenth edition of Asia's continental sevens tournament. The lower-tier Trophy tournament hosted in Qatar served as a qualifier, with the top team qualifying for the main series hosted in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.
The qualification process of men's teams for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Automatic qualification was extended to the host and the eight quarterfinalists of the previous World Cup. The remaining spots were contested in each of the five regions' respective tournaments.
The qualification process for the inaugural women's tournament of the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. There are no automatic qualifiers, so all national teams qualified by way of regional tournaments. Unlike the men's tournament, the Arabian Gulf did not prequalify as hosts. The qualification process allocated two slots for Africa, two for North America/West Indies, one for South America, three for Asia, six for Europe and two for Oceania.
The qualification process of women's teams for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Automatic qualification was extended to the host and the four semifinalists of the previous cup's tournament. The remaining spots were contested in each of the six regions' respective tournaments.
