Twenty-four teams took part in each tournament. They were placed into two divisions (A and B) based on rankings. Each division was split into four pools (labeled A-D) of three according to their past performance. Each team played three matches against three teams of a specific pool (i.e. pool A played against pool D and pool B played against pool C). Four points were awarded for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. One bonus point was awarded for scoring 4 tries or more, and one bonus point was awarded for loss by 7 points or less.
After all the pool matches, the teams were ranked by total match points. The top four teams qualified for the semifinals (1st against 4th and 2nd against 3rd). Similarly, other teams entered play-offs for positions 5-8 and 9-12.
The winning semi-finalists met in the final and the losing semi-finalists played to decide third place. The division A winning team won the tournament outright and the division B winning team earned the right to move up to division A the following year at the expense of the team which came 12th in division A, which fell to division B.
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New Zealand (2007)
