The Barbados national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. They competed at the Commonwealth Sevens in 2014 replacing Nigeria who withdrew despite qualifying. [1] [2] Barbados also participated in the World Series core team qualifiers at the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens. [3]
The team received some publicity in 2014, when Anthony Bayne-Charles, the son of Billy Ocean, was selected to play for them as a reserve. [4]
Squad that participated at the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens World Series Qualifier. [5]
The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the competition was formed to promote an elite-level of international rugby sevens and develop the game into a viable commercial product. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2014.
The Hong Kong Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. 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. 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). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The latest Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is being held on Friday 5 April, Saturday 6 April, Sunday 7 April 2024.
Rugby sevens 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 Fiji national rugby sevens team has competed in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Olympics. Fiji won the gold medal in the inaugural rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics in 2016 in Brazil, the country's first Olympic medal in any event, and repeated as Olympic champions in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, defeating New Zealand. Fiji would fall short from winning gold for a third straight time in 2024 after a defeat in the final to hosts France. Overall, Fiji are the only national rugby sevens team in the world to have won the Sevens Treble, the three major achievements in Sevens. They have won multiple World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The South African national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Overall, the team has won the World Rugby Sevens Series 4 times, as well as having won 40 tournaments in the series.
The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in all but one of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments.
The Russia national rugby sevens team competed in the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe.
The Cook Islands national rugby sevens team represents the Cook Islands in rugby sevens internationally. They have participated in two Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments, in 1997 and 2001, and have also competed at the Commonwealth Games on four occasions. They qualified for the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens tournament and played in the World Series Qualifiers.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby sevens team competes in the Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games, Challenger Series and the Oceania Sevens. They finished third in 2009 and fourth in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2023 in the Oceania Sevens. They missed out on a maiden Olympic spot after being defeated by Samoa 24-0 in the 2023 Oceania 7s Olympic Playoff.
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
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 Uruguay national rugby sevens team is the representative team of Uruguay that participates at the World Rugby and Sudamérica Rugby tournaments for rugby sevens national teams. It is organized by the Uruguayan Rugby Union.
The Philippines national rugby sevens team is a minor national sevens side. The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was their first appearance in an IRB Sevens World Series. They were 1 of 4 Asian teams that qualified through regional tournaments to be included in the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens, it is also a qualifying tournament for inclusion in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series. After the Philippines won third place against South Korea in the 2012 Singapore Sevens Series, they gained qualification to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow. The Philippines finished third at the 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, and qualified to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens World Series qualifier. At the tournament, the team defeated Zimbabwe and advanced to quarter-finals, where they lost to Asian rival Hong Kong.
The English women's national rugby sevens team has competed in the Hong Kong Women's Sevens tournaments since 1997. England are also one of six teams announced by the International Rugby Board as "core teams" that will compete in all four rounds of the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens World Series in 2012–13. England won the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Hong Kong women's sevens rugby union team represents Hong Kong at an international level and plays at the Hong Kong Women's Sevens and other international sevens tournaments.
The 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 15th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides. The IRB Sevens World Series has been run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. New Zealand emerged as champions, defeating South Africa.
Paulo Scanlan is a Samoan footballer and rugby union player who has played for the Samoa national football team and Samoa national rugby sevens team.
The 2017 Oceania Sevens Championship was the tenth Oceania Sevens in men's rugby sevens. It was held at ANZ Stadium in Suva, Fiji on 10–11 November 2017. The tournament was won by Fiji who defeated New Zealand 26–0 in the final.
The 2017 RAN Sevens was the 18th edition of the annual rugby sevens tournament organized by Rugby Americas North. It will be played at Campo Marte in Mexico City.