Rugby World Cup Sevens

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Rugby World Cup Sevens
Current season or competition:
Rugby football current event.svg 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Rugby World Cup Sevens logo.png
Sport Rugby union
Inaugural season1993 (men)
2009 (women)
Number of teams24 (men)
16 (women)
HoldersFlag of Fiji.svg  Fiji (men) (2022)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (women) (2022)
Most titlesFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji (men)
(3 titles)
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (women)
(2 titles)
Website rwcsevens.com

Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.

Contents

The first tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, and was won by England. The winners of the men's tournament are awarded the Melrose Cup, named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first rugby sevens game was played. [1] A women's tournament was introduced at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, and was first won by Australia.

After the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, the tournament took an extended, five-year hiatus to allow the integration of rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics into the competitive calendar. The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Cape Town Stadium, in Cape Town, South Africa, with Fiji winning the men's tournament and Australia winning the women's tournament.

History

The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Board.[ citation needed ] The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1993, and has been held every four years since. England won the inaugural tournament, defeating Australia 21–17 in the final.

Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, hosted the 1997 event. The final was won by Fiji over South Africa. The 2001 tournament was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong.

At the 2009 tournament, Wales, Samoa, Argentina and Kenya combined to stun the rugby world by defeating the traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, England, South Africa and Fiji in the quarter-finals, guaranteeing a new Melrose Cup winner. Wales and Argentina met in the final, with Wales triumphing 19–12.

The IRB made a submission to the International Olympic Committee in 2005 for rugby sevens to become an Olympic sport. However, the submission failed because committee members felt IRB needed to improve promotion of the women's game.[ citation needed ] To that end, the IRB implemented the first women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in 2009. [2] The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Dubai during the first weekend of March 2009 and included a separate women's tournament. Cumulative attendance was 78,000. [2]

Prior to the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, the IRB stated that their intention would be to end the World Cup Sevens so that the Olympic Games would be the one pinnacle in a four-year cycle for Rugby Sevens. [3] The adoption of rugby sevens and golf was recommended to the full International Olympic Committee council by its executive board in August 2009. [4] The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 for rugby sevens to become a medal event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [5]

The IRB Council in 2010 awarded the hosting of the 2013 tournament to Moscow, Russia from a field of eight nations that had expressed formal interest in hosting. [6] The IRB intended that the exposure to rugby from hosting the World Cup Sevens would accelerate the growth of rugby in Russia. [6] It featured 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams. [7] [8]

The IRB originally intended to discontinue Rugby World Cup Sevens after the 2013 edition, in favour of the Olympic tournament. However, it was later decided in 2013 that the tournament would continue to be held, as it can accommodate a larger field than the Olympic rugby sevens tournaments, and would allow an elite-level competition to take place biennially from 2016. [7] [8] The next tournament would be held in 2018, one year later than usual, in order to accommodate the integration of the Olympics into the competitive calendar. [7] [8] On 13 May 2015, it was announced that the United States would host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. [9]

Attendance

Tournament Attendance
YearTotal AttendanceAverage Daily Attendance
1993
1997
2001
2005 120,000 [10] 40,000
2009 78,000 [11] 26,000
2013
2018 100,000 [12] 33,333
2022 105,000 [13] 35,000

Men's tournament

Ed.YearHostFirst place gameLosing semifinalistsNum.
teams
Gold medal icon.svg ChampionScoreSilver medal icon.svg Runner-up
1 1993 Flag of Scotland.svg Edinburgh Flag of England.svg
England
21–17Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
IRFU flag.svg
Ireland
24
2 1997 Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg Hong Kong Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
24–21Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa
Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of Samoa.svg
Samoa
24
3 2001 Flag of Argentina.svg Mar del Plata Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
31–12Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
Flag of Argentina.svg
Argentina
24
4 2005 Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
29–19Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
Flag of England.svg
England
24
5 2009 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Dubai Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg
Wales
19–12Flag of Argentina.svg
Argentina
Flag of Samoa.svg
Samoa
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
24
6 2013 Flag of Russia.svg Moscow Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
33–0Flag of England.svg
England
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
24
7 2018 Flag of the United States.svg San Francisco Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
33–12Flag of England.svg
England
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
24
8 2022 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
29–12Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
IRFU flag.svg
Ireland
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
24

Notable players

Player of the Tournament
YearChampionPlayer
1993 Flag of England.svg  England Flag of England.svg Lawrence Dallaglio
1997 Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji Flag of Fiji.svg Waisale Serevi [14]
2001 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of New Zealand.svg Jonah Lomu
2005 Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji Flag of Fiji.svg Waisale Serevi [14]
2009 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Tal Selley [15]
2013 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of New Zealand.svg Tim Mikkelson [16]
2018 Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Curry
2022 Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji Flag of Fiji.svg Kaminieli Rasaku [17]

The 2001 tournament added another chapter to the legend of New Zealand's Jonah Lomu. Lomu, used sparingly in pool play, received his opportunity when New Zealand captain Eric Rush broke his leg in the last pool match. Lomu went on to score three tries in the final.

In 2005, Waisale Serevi came out of international retirement to captain and lead Fiji to their second Melrose Cup. At the 2009 tournament, Wales defeated Argentina 19–12 in the final, and Wales' Taliesin Selley was named player of the tournament.

Player Records

The top all-time try-scorer for the Rugby World Cup Sevens is Fijian winger Marika Vunibaka, who scored 23 tries in three of the Sevens World Cups he played in from 1997 to 2005. Serevi ranks second with 19 career World Cup Sevens tries, over four tournaments from 1993 to 2005. [18] Brian Lima ranks third with 17 tries. The top points scorers are Serevi with 297 points, Vunibaka with 115 points, and Lima with 101 points. [19]

Up to date as of 12 September 2022

Results by nation

Team Flag of Scotland.svg
1993
Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg
1997
Flag of Argentina.svg
2001
Flag of Hong Kong.svg
2005
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
2009
Flag of Russia.svg
2013
Flag of the United States.svg
2018
Flag of South Africa.svg
2022
Years
Flag of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.svg Arabian Gulf 21st1
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 9th13th3rd5th2nd11th5th5th8
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 2nd5th2nd3rd10th5th10th4th8
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 15th21st5th18th13th9th12th13th8
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 17th17th14th3
Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 11th13th2
Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 21st21st21st3
Flag of England.svg  England 1st5th5th3rd5th2nd2nd9th8
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 3rd1st3rd1st5th3rd4th1st8
Flag of France.svg  France 15th5th21st5th13th5th8th6th8
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 10th11th21st19th4
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 18th1
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 3rd19th19th13th18th9th3rd7
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 17th17th21st3
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 17th10th21st21st19th21st18th19th8
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 24th24th2
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 13th17th13th13th21st18th15th7
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 19th19th3rd4th16th12th6
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 11th5th13th21st21st5
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 21st1
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 19th1
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 21st21st2
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 21st1
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 7th3rd1st2nd5th1st1st2nd8
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 21st1
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 21st1
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 21st18th10th11th13th22nd6
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 17th13th2
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 9th11th17th14th4
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 5th2nd5th5th5th5th3rd7th8
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 5th3rd5th9th3rd10th13th8th8
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 14th11th5th9th11th7th16th7
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 10th13th11th21st4
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 7th9th19th11th13th22nd20th7
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 13th13th21st3
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 19th17th2
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 21st19th19th20th10th5
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 17th18th13th13th13th13th6th11th8
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 11th13th11th1st5th11th15th7
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 21st21st17th13th23rd23rd6

Women's tournament

Ed.YearHostFirst place gameLosing semifinalistsNum.
teams
Gold medal icon.svg ChampionScoreSilver medal icon.svg Runner-up
1 2009 Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
15–10Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of the United States.svg
United States
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa
16
2 2013 Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
29–12Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Canada
Flag of the United States.svg
United States
Flag of Spain.svg
Spain
16
3 2018 Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
29–0Flag of France.svg
France
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
Flag of the United States.svg
United States
16
4 2022 Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
24–22Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of France.svg
France
Flag of the United States.svg
United States
16

Results by nation

Team Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
2009
Flag of Russia.svg
2013
Flag of the United States.svg
2018
Flag of South Africa.svg
2022
Years
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 1st5th3rd1st4
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 10th13th13th11th4
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 6th2nd7th6th4
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 9th11th12th13th4
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 16th1
Flag of England.svg  England 5th6th9th8th4
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 9th11th5th3
Flag of France.svg  France 7th11th2nd3rd4
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 7th6th7th3
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11th1
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 13th13th10th9th4
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 15th1
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 16th1
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 13th10th2
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2nd1st1st2nd4
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 15th1
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 10th1
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 11th7th8th3
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 4th13th14th14th4
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 7th4th5th12th4
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 13th1
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 13th1
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3rd3rd4th4th4
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 13th1

See also

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