New Zealand Sevens (tournament)

The New Zealand Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament currently held at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand.[1][2] For the first eighteen years of its history the event was held in Wellington.[1][3] The event is the third on the World Rugby Sevens Series circuit and is generally held in late January or early February.

New Zealand Sevens
Most recent season or competition:
2020 New Zealand Sevens
SportRugby sevens
Founded2000
No. of teams16
CountryNew Zealand
Most recent
champion(s)
 New Zealand (2020)
Most titles New Zealand (10 titles)
Official websitesevens.co.nz
Fiji's Waisale Serevi at Wellington in 2007.

History

Wellington

Wellington first hosted a tournament in 2000 as part of the inaugural Sevens World Series. The event was the first to be held in the newly-developed Westpac Stadium.[4] The tournament built a reputation for a party atmosphere, with a large proportion of attendees choosing to wear fancy dress.[5] Movie figures such as the Men in Black (MIB) and Austin Powers were crowd favorites and an impersonator of Austin Powers was a regular for many years performing for the crowd.[4] Host team New Zealand dominated the sevens competition in Wellington, winning just over half of all the tournaments held.

Hamilton

The location of the tournament was moved to Hamilton in 2018,[3] after attendances in Wellington had declined.[6] The tournament was hosted as part of an integrated men's and women's event from 2019.[7] Discussion was also begun on alternating the host location of the tournament between Hamilton and Suva, in Fiji, following the 2020 edition.[8][9]

Results

Year  Venue  Cup final Placings
Winner Score Runner-up Plate Bowl Shield
2000 Westpac Stadium
Fiji
24–14
New Zealand

Canada

France
n/a
2001 Westpac Stadium
Australia
19–17
Fiji

Samoa

South Africa

Japan
2002 Westpac Stadium
South Africa
17–14
Samoa

Argentina

France

Cook Islands
2003 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
38–26
England

Samoa

Canada

Tonga
2004 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
33–15
Fiji

Tonga

Argentina

United States
2005 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
31–7
Argentina

Australia

Kenya

Niue
2006 Westpac Stadium
Fiji
27–22
South Africa

England

Scotland

Tonga
2007 Westpac Stadium
Samoa
17–14
Fiji

England

Argentina

Portugal
2008 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
22–17
Samoa

South Africa

England

United States
2009 Westpac Stadium
England
19–17
New Zealand

South Africa

Cook Islands

Scotland
2010 Westpac Stadium
Fiji
19–14
Samoa

Australia

Wales

United States
2011 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
29–14
England

Fiji

Kenya

United States
2012 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
24–7
Fiji

South Africa

Kenya

Scotland
2013 Westpac Stadium
England
24–19
Kenya

Australia

Canada

Wales
2014 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
21–0
South Africa

Australia

Kenya

United States
2015 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
27–21
England

Fiji

France

Canada
2016 Westpac Stadium
New Zealand
24–21
South Africa

Australia

Samoa

France
Winner Score Runner-up Third Fourth Fifth
2017 Westpac Stadium
South Africa
26–5
Fiji

Scotland

Canada

Argentina
2018 Waikato Stadium
Fiji
24–17
South Africa

Australia

New Zealand

United States
2019 Waikato Stadium
Fiji
38–0
United States

New Zealand

South Africa

Samoa
2020 Waikato Stadium
New Zealand
27–5
France

Australia

England

Canada
World Series tournaments planned for Hamilton were cancelled in 2021[10] and 2022,[11] due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 Waikato Stadium

See also

References

  1. "HSBC New Zealand Sevens: Hamilton". Sky. 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. "HSBC New Zealand Sevens". HamiltonNew Zealand. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. "New Zealand Sevens World Series event moving to Hamilton from 2018". Stuff. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  4. "Sevens' man steps away from annual city 'party'". Dominion Post. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. "Sevens Rugby - the party, the costumes, the players". Talking Rugby Union. 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  6. "Plenty of finger-pointing about demise of the Wellington Sevens". Stuff. 8 February 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  7. "Rugby sevens: Hamilton sevens to stage men and women". The New Zealand Herald. 23 February 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  8. "New Zealand Sevens tournament could alternate between Hamilton and Fiji". Stuff. 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  9. "Pacific Island nations possible hosts for NZ Sevens - NZ Rugby boss Steve Tew". Stuff. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. "2021 Hamilton, Sydney Sevens cancelled due to COVID-19". ESPN. 4 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021.
  11. Ekin, Kim (3 September 2021). "Four stages of World Rugby Sevens Series cancelled in space of an hour". Rugby Pass. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021.
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