Rugby World Cup Sevens

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.

Rugby World Cup Sevens
Current season or competition:
2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens
SportRugby union
Inaugural season1993 (men)
2009 (women)
Number of teams24 (men)
16 (women)
Holders Fiji (men) (2022)
 Australia (women) (2022)
Most titles New Zealand  Fiji (men)
(3 titles)
 New Zealand  Australia (women)
(2 titles)
Websiterwcsevens.com

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. 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. 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
Year Total Attendance Average 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. Year Host First place game Losing semifinalists Num.
teams
1st place, gold medalist(s) Champion Score 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1 1993 Scotland Edinburgh
England		 21–17
Australia
Fiji
Ireland		 24
2 1997 Hong Kong Hong Kong
Fiji		 24–21
South Africa
New Zealand
Samoa		 24
3 2001 Argentina Mar del Plata
New Zealand		 31–12
Australia
Fiji
Argentina		 24
4 2005 Hong Kong Hong Kong
Fiji		 29–19
New Zealand
Australia
England		 24
5 2009 United Arab Emirates Dubai
Wales		 19–12
Argentina
Samoa
Kenya		 24
6 2013 Russia Moscow
New Zealand		 33–0
England
Fiji
Kenya		 24
7 2018 United States San Francisco
New Zealand		 33–12
England
South Africa
Fiji		 24
8 2022 South Africa Cape Town
Fiji		 29–12
New Zealand
Ireland
Australia		 24

Notable players
Player of the Tournament
Year Champion Player
1993  England England Lawrence Dallaglio
1997  Fiji Fiji Waisale Serevi[14]
2001  New Zealand New Zealand Jonah Lomu
2005  Fiji Fiji Waisale Serevi[14]
2009  Wales Wales Tal Selley[15]
2013  New Zealand New Zealand Tim Mikkelson[16]
2018  New Zealand New Zealand Scott Curry
2022  Fiji Fiji 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
TeamScotland
1993		Hong Kong
1997		Argentina
2001		Hong Kong
2005		United Arab Emirates
2009		Russia
2013		United States
2018		South Africa
2022		Years
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Arabian Gulf21st1
 Argentina9th13th3rd5th2nd11th5th5th8
 Australia2nd5th2nd3rd10th5th10th4th8
 Canada15th21st5th18th13th9th12th13th8
 Chile17th17th14th3
 Cook Islands11th13th2
 Chinese Taipei21st21st21st3
 England1st5th5th3rd5th2nd2nd9th8
 Fiji3rd1st3rd1st5th3rd4th1st8
 France15th5th21st5th13th5th8th6th8
 Georgia10th11th21st19th4
 Germany18th1
 Ireland3rd19th19th13th18th9th3rd7
 Italy17th17th21st3
 Hong Kong17th10th21st21st19th21st18th19th8
 Jamaica24th24th2
 Japan13th17th13th13th21st18th15th7
 Kenya19th19th3rd4th16th12th6
 South Korea11th5th13th21st21st5
 Latvia21st1
 Morocco19th1
 Namibia21st21st2
 Netherlands21st1
 New Zealand7th3rd1st2nd5th1st1st2nd8
 Papua New Guinea21st1
 Philippines21st1
 Portugal21st18th10th11th13th22nd6
 Romania17th13th2
 Russia9th11th17th14th4
 South Africa5th2nd5th5th5th5th3rd7th8
 Samoa5th3rd5th9th3rd10th13th8th8
 Scotland14th11th5th9th11th7th16th7
 Spain10th13th11th21st4
 Tonga7th9th19th11th13th22nd20th7
 Tunisia13th13th21st3
 Uganda19th17th2
 Uruguay21st19th19th20th10th5
 United States17th18th13th13th13th13th6th11th8
 Wales11th13th11th1st5th11th15th7
 Zimbabwe21st21st17th13th23rd23rd6

Women's tournament
Ed. Year Host First place game Losing semifinalists Num.
teams
1st place, gold medalist(s) Champion Score 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
1 2009
Australia		 15–10
New Zealand
United States
South Africa		 16
2 2013
New Zealand		 29–12
Canada
United States
Spain		 16
3 2018
New Zealand		 29–0
France
Australia
United States		 16
4 2022
Australia		 24–22
New Zealand
France
United States		 16

Results by nation
TeamUnited Arab Emirates
2009		Russia
2013		United States
2018		South Africa
2022		Years
 Australia1st5th3rd1st4
 Brazil10th13th13th11th4
 Canada6th2nd7th6th4
 China9th11th12th13th4
 Colombia16th1
 England5th6th9th8th4
 Fiji9th11th5th3
 France7th11th2nd3rd4
 Ireland7th6th7th3
 Italy11th1
 Japan13th13th10th9th4
 Madagascar15th1
 Mexico16th1
 Netherlands13th10th2
 New Zealand2nd1st1st2nd4
 Papua New Guinea15th1
 Poland10th1
 Russia11th7th8th3
 South Africa4th13th14th14th4
 Spain7th4th5th12th4
 Thailand13th1
 Tunisia13th1
 United States3rd3rd4th4th4
 Uganda13th1

See also

References
  1. "Scotland 7s players Melrose bound - Scottish Rugby Union". Scottishrugby.org.
  2. "Tietjens backs sevens Olympic bid", ESPN, (13 August 2009), Retrieved 29 March 2011
  3. RWC Sevens to be scrapped for Olympics, ESPN, 27 May 2009 Retrieved 24 February 2011
  4. Lowe, Alex (7 October 2009). "Lomu lends his weight to rugby sevens Olympic bid", The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 March 2011
  5. John Duce, (27 March 2011). "New Zealand Beat England 29–17 to Win Hong Kong Rugby Sevens", Bloomberg, Retrieved 29 March 2011
  6. "Russia to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013". IRB.com. 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. "Future of Rugby World Cup Sevens confirmed". RWC Sevens. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013.
  8. Sallay, Alvin (29 March 2011). "IRB under pressure to save World Cup Sevens", South China Morning Post
  9. "USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018". Worldrugby.org.
  10. "Record interest in Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009". espnscrum. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  11. "Rugby parties in Dubai's Sevens heaven". CNN. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  12. "Rugby World Cup Sevens: New Zealand wins historic title". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  13. "RECORD NUMBERS ATTENDED AFRICA'S FIRST EVER RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS IN CAPE TOWN". EWN. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  14. "Hong Kong Sevens - Fiji's Waisale Serevi Is Sixth Member of 'The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven'". hksevens.com.
  15. Clutton, Graham (18 March 2009). "Wales Sevens coach Paul John rings changes ahead of World Series in Hong Kong". Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 – via telegraph.co.uk.
  16. "Mooloos set to lose Tim Mikkelson to sevens". Stuff. 14 August 2013.
  17. Journalist, Talei Matairakula Multimedia Sports. "Rasaku is RWC 7s Breakthrough Player". Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  18. "Sevens heaven - The best in the business". 5 March 2009.
  19. "Serevi, Vunibaka still stand tall". Fijisun.com.fj. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  20. "STATS CENTRE". RWC Sevens. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  21. "STATS CENTRE". RWC Sevens. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  22. "STATS CENTRE". RWC Sevens. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
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