2021 World Rugby Sevens Series

Last updated
2021 World Rugby Sevens
Series XXII
Hosts
Date18–26 September 2021
Nations12
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Runners-upFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
ThirdFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Series details
Top try scorer Muller du Plessis (13)
Top point scorer Ronald Brown (91)
2021–22

The 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 22nd annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, only two tournaments were played in the 2021 series instead of the usual ten. [1] The number of teams participating was also reduced from sixteen to twelve at the tournaments, with many of the top teams from the previous series not taking part. [2]

Contents

The series was won by South Africa who won both tour events on their way to claiming their fourth World Series title.

Teams

The twelve national men's teams competing in the 2021 series were:

Core teams qualified from the previous season and not competing in 2021 were:

As a result, five teams from the Challenger Series were invited to both events to complete a 12-team field. Hong Kong, Germany and Chile were in the top four of the 2020 Series, while Jamaica and Mexico were the only North American entrants.

Tour venues

The official schedule for the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series was: [7] [8]

2021 Itinerary
LegStadiumCityDatesWinner
Vancouver BC Place Vancouver 18–19 September 2021Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium Edmonton 25–26 September 2021Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa

On 4 August organisers announced the cancellation of the Hong Kong Sevens for the second year running because of the emerging Covid-19 Delta variant and global travel restrictions. [9]

On 3 September, World Rugby cancelled the Singapore and Cape Town tournaments due to ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and announced that the 2021 Dubai Sevens tournament would no longer be part of the 2021 series but incorporated into the 2021-22 series instead. [1] This reduced the 2021 series to just two events held in Canada.

Standings

Official standings for the 2021 series were:

2021 World Rugby Sevens – Series XXI
 
Pos.
Event 
Team
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Van­couver
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Edmon­ton
Points
total [c]
  
1Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 202040
2Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain [b] 161834
3Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 181634
4Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 101424
5Flag of the United States.svg  United States 121022
6IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 14620
7Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 41216
8Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 8816
9Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 6410
10Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 325
11Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 235
12Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 112


Legend
No colourOriginally qualified as a core team for the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series
YellowInvited team

Source: World Rugby [10]

Players

Scoring leaders

Tries scored
RankPlayerTries
1Flag of South Africa.svg Muller du Plessis 13
2Flag of the United States.svg Malacchi Esdale 12
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Max McFarland 12
4Flag of Kenya.svg Alvin Otieno 11
Flag of South Africa.svg Siviwe Soyizwapi 11

Updated: 27 September 2021

See also

Notes

  1. Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019–20 champion team New Zealand, Olympic gold medallist Fiji, as well as Australia, Argentina, and Samoa did not compete in the 2021 series, [3] and neither did Japan, the team promoted to core status from the 2020 Challenger Series, [4] [5] or France, a late withdrawal due to travel issues. [2]
  2. 1 2 Great Britain represented England, Scotland and Wales during the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, following their appearance as Team GB at the Olympic Sevens earlier in the year. [6]
  3. Due to only 12 teams competing in each event in the 2021 World Rugby Sevens Series, the maximum number of points awarded for a tournament win was 20, in line with the usual system for 12 teams in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

References

  1. 1 2 "World Rugby cancels Sevens events in Cape Town and Singapore". ESPN. 4 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Davidson, Neil (10 September 2021). "Field for Canadian rugby sevens events diluted by pandemic-related issues". Lethbridge News Now. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021.
  3. Johnston, Patrick (12 August 2021). "Rugby: COVID-19 keeping leading teams away from 2021 Canada Sevens". The Province . Vancouver. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021.
  4. Johnston, Patrick (27 August 2021). "Canada Sevens: Team lineup confirmed as Jamaica, Hong Kong added". The Province . Vancouver. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021.
  5. "Plans revised for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021". World Rugby. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  6. "HSBC Canada Sevens Update". Canada Sevens. 9 August 2021. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 schedule updated". World.Rugby. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021.
  8. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series". World.Rugby. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  9. "Hong Kong Sevens cancelled for second year as organisers turn to April 2022 – 'the potential risk of exposure was just too great'". South China Morning Post. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  10. "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Standings". World Rugby. 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.