Dubai Sevens

The Dubai 7s is an annual rugby sevens and social event held at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, UAE. Founded in 1970, the event is the longest running sports event in the Middle East.[1]

Dubai Sevens
Most recent season or competition:
2022 Dubai 7s
SportRugby sevens
Inaugural season1970
No. of teams16
Most recent
champion(s)
 South Africa
Most titles South Africa  (10 titles)
2007 Dubai Sevens

Events

The Dubai 7s has six competitions each year:[2]

Dubai is the first leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series. Sixteen teams compete in the men's tournament divided into four pool of four teams. On the first day, each team plays the other three teams in the pool. The two highest teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinal knockout rounds, and the bottom two teams move to the challenge bracket.

Dubai also hosts a stop on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. Twelve teams compete in the women's tournament.

For the invitation tournaments, rugby teams take part in 15 sections.[3] The rugby invitational tournament is popular, with hundreds of teams participating.[4] The netball tournament includes teams in three sections: gulf women, open youth, and open women.

The Dubai Sevens is one of the more popular sporting events in Dubai, with over 100,000 fans attending the 2016 event.[4][5]

Venue

The Dubai 7s has been held at The Sevens Stadium since 2008. Facilities at The Sevens include: eight rugby pitches, six cricket pitches, four netball/tennis courts, one basketball court, a grandstand, and ancillary facilities.[6]

The tournament's move to that venue in 2008 was a success. The tournament broke the World Series single-day attendance record in its first year with over 50,000 fans appearing on the first day of the tournament.[7]

World Series results

Summary of results

Five teams have won the Dubai Sevens at least once. The early years of the tournament on the World Series were less competitive. Prior to 2003, New Zealand won the final with a comfortable 20+ point margin each year. In the first decade from 1999 to 2008 only five teams (New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, and England) had reached the Dubai Sevens final. Since then, the tournament has been more competitive, with several additional teams making the final and semifinal stages.

Summary of Dubai Sevens results on the World Series (updated to 2022):

TeamChampionRunner-upSemifinalistTop 4 placing
 South Africa101516
 New Zealand65718
 England42915
 Fiji26816
 Samoa1359
 Australia235
 United States224
 France123
 Ireland11
 Argentina33
 Kenya11
 Wales11
Total23234692

Results by year

Year  Venue  Cup final Placings Refs
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
1999 Dubai Exiles
New Zealand
38–14
Fiji

Australia

Scotland
[8]
2000 Dubai Exiles
New Zealand
34–5
Fiji

South Africa

Ireland
[9]
2001a Dubai Exiles New Zealand 45–7 South Africa Scotland Wales
2002 Dubai Exiles
New Zealand
38–12
Samoa

Fiji

France

Namibia
[10]
2003 Dubai Exiles
South Africa
33–26
New Zealand

Argentina

Canada

Zambia
[11]
2004 Dubai Exiles
England
26–21
Fiji

Samoa

Portugal

Tunisia
[12]
2005 Dubai Exiles
England
28–26
Fiji

New Zealand

Wales

Kenya
[13]
2006 Dubai Exiles
South Africa
31–12
New Zealand

Samoa

Argentina

Wales
[14]
2007 Dubai Exiles
New Zealand
31–21
Fiji

Argentina

Australia

Zimbabwe
[15]
2008 The Sevens
South Africa
19–12
England

Samoa

Portugal

United States
[16]
2009 The Sevens
New Zealand
24–12
Samoa

Australia

Wales

Russia
[17]
2010 The Sevens
England
29–21
Samoa

South Africa

Argentina

Kenya
[18]
2011 The Sevens
England
29–12
France

Fiji

Australia

Scotland
[19]
2012 The Sevens
Samoa
26–15
New Zealand

Wales

Argentina

England
[20]
2013 The Sevens
Fiji
29–17
South Africa

Argentina

Australia

France
[21]
2014 The Sevens
South Africa
33–7
Australia

Argentina

Samoa

Canada
[22]
2015 The Sevens
Fiji
28–17
England

South Africa

France

Canada
[23]
Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth
2016 The Sevens
South Africa
26–14
Fiji

England

Wales

Australia
[24]
2017 The Sevens
South Africa
24–12
New Zealand

England

Fiji

Australia
[25]
2018 The Sevens
New Zealand
21–5
United States

England

Australia

Fiji
[26]
2019 The Sevens
South Africa
15–0
New Zealand

England

Samoa

Australia
[27]
2020 The Sevens Tournament cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. [28]
[29]
2021
I
The Sevens
South Africa
42–7
United States

Argentina

Fiji

Australia
2021
II
The Sevens
South Africa
10–7
Australia

Argentina

France

Great Britain
2022 The Sevens
South Africa
21–5
Ireland

New Zealand

United States

France

Notes:

^a The event held on November 7–8, 2001, was downgraded in status and excluded from the Sevens World Series after several teams withdrew in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.[30][31][32]

Earlier winners

Winners of the Emirates International Trophy from 1988 to 1998:[33]

See also

References

  1. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: History".
  2. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: Event information".
  3. "Dubai Rugby Sevens: News".
  4. "The Dubai Rugby Sevens Broke Attendance Records", Dubai Rugby 7s, 5 December 2016.
  5. "Dubai Rugby Sevens 2018", Time Out Dubai, 29 November 2018.
  6. The Sevens official website, 01.01.11.
  7. "Dubai sets new Series attendance record", World Rugby, 29 November 2008.
  8. "IRB Sevens I – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 1999.
  9. "IRB Sevens II – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2000.
  10. "IRB Sevens IV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2002.
  11. "IRB Sevens V – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2003.
  12. "IRB Sevens VI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2004.
  13. "IRB Sevens VII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2005.
  14. "IRB Sevens VIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2006.
  15. "IRB Sevens IX – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2007.
  16. "IRB Sevens X – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2009.
  17. "IRB Sevens XI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2009.
  18. "IRB Sevens XII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2010.
  19. "IRB Sevens XIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2011.
  20. "IRB Sevens XIV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2012.
  21. "IRB Sevens XV – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2013.
  22. "IRB Sevens XVI – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2014.
  23. "World Sevens Series XVII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2015.
  24. "World Sevens Series XVIII – Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2016.
  25. "World Sevens Series XIX– Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2017.
  26. "World Sevens Series XX– Dubai". Rugby7.com. 2018.
  27. del Carme, Liam (8 December 2019). "Brilliant Blitzbokke bag Dubai Sevens title". Business Live.
  28. Radley, Paul (29 July 2020). "2020 Dubai Rugby Sevens cancelled because of coronavirus". The National News. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020.
  29. "Plans revised for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021". World Rugby. 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020.
  30. "Dubai scrubbed from Sevens Series". Irish Times. 16 October 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
  31. Malin, Ian (24 October 2001). "England to miss Dubai's downgraded sevens". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016.
  32. "Dubai sevens: Scots take Plate prize". 9 November 2001. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  33. "Dubai 7s". Rugby7.com.
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