Rugby sevens, and originally known as seven-a-side rugby, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40 minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
The Russia national rugby union team represents Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions, nicknamed the Bears, is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all Asian countries. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis among others. Top sporting nations in Asia include China, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea and Philippines.
The German national rugby sevens team competes in the top-level European sevens competition, the Sevens Grand Prix Series. In 2012, Germany finished eleventh out of twelve teams and avoided relegation. The team also unsuccessfully took part in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifying tournament in Moscow in July 2012.
A variety of sports in Bahrain are popular and widespread. Association football is the most popular sport in the country. Other traditionally-popular sports include basketball, volleyball and handball. Sports such as horse racing, mixed martial arts and rugby union have gained popularity over the past few decades.
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and has been led by Head Coach Anthony Eddy since 2015.
Spain's national rugby sevens team is one of 15 core teams participating in all ten tournaments of the World Rugby Sevens Series, having qualified by winning the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament. Spain participated as a core team in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, but was relegated the following season.
The Rugby Europe Sevens, whose main division is the Sevens Grand Prix Series, are a series of rugby sevens tournaments held by Rugby Europe. It was formerly known as the FIRA-AER Sevens until 2013, with only one annual tournament prior to 2011, when it was reorganized as a series of tournaments, following the model of the World Rugby Sevens Series, and named the Sevens Grand Prix Series. Rugby Europe also sponsors continental sevens tournaments divided into multiple divisions, incorporating a promotion/relegation system.
The Ireland women's national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens and Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics. Unlike the Ireland women's national rugby union team, the sevens team is a professional team with players contracted to the Irish Rugby Football Union.
Niamh Briggs is an Ireland women's rugby union international. She represented Ireland at the 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Briggs was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat France, England and New Zealand. She was captain of the Ireland team when they won the 2015 Six Nations title and was the top points scorer during both the 2013 and 2015 Six Nations championships. Briggs is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and has also played senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Waterford. Briggs is a Garda Síochána officer based in Limerick.
The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organised by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three days from July 20–22, 2018. The men’s tournament had 24 teams and the women’s tournament 16, with both tournaments being played for the first time in a knock-out only format. New Zealand won the championship for both events — defeating England in the men's final and France in the women's final.
Billy Dardis is an Irish rugby union player. He is the captain of the Ireland national rugby sevens team, and also plays for UCD in Division 1A of the All Ireland League.
The 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix served as a European qualifier not only for the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament, but for two bids among the teams not already qualified for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The 2018 Hong Kong Sevens was the 43rd edition of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, and the seventh tournament of the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series. The performance from this tournament determined the first fourteen seedings of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament alongside the past year's series and the previous six event of the 2017–18 season.
This is the qualifications of the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Women's tournament aimed at selecting women's Rugby sevens national teams that appeared in the finals in San Francisco. A total of 52 nations took part in the qualifying process.
The 2016 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series was the top level of international women's rugby sevens competitions organised by Rugby Europe during 2016. The series featured two tournaments, one hosted in Kazan and one hosted in Malemort. In preparation for 2016 Summer Olympics, England and Wales were replaced by two Great Britain representative teams, the Lions and the Royals. France won the Kazan tournament while Russia won the Malemort tournament. Russia won the overall championship. Finland and Ukraine were relegated to the 2017 Trophy series.
The 2018 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier. The three top placing 2018-2019 non-core World Series teams — Ireland, Germany, and Russia — advance to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens qualification tournament. Ireland won the series, winning three out of the four tournaments.
Mark Roche is an Irish rugby union player.
Audrey O'Flynn is an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. O'Flynn represented Ireland at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. O'Flynn is also a former Ireland women's field hockey international. Between 2010 and 2014, O'Flynn made 120 appearances and scored 30 goals for the Ireland women's national field hockey team
Gregory O'Shea is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for the Ireland national rugby sevens team, usually as a fly-half. In July 2019, O'Shea won the fifth series of Love Island alongside Amber Gill.
