Rugby World Cup Sevens facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Rugby World Cup Sevens

Current season or competition: 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Sport	Rugby union
Inaugural season	1993 (men) 2009 (women)
Number of teams	24 (men) 16 (women)
Holders	Fiji (men) (2022)  Australia (women) (2022)
Most titles	New Zealand  Fiji (men) (3 titles)  New Zealand  Australia (women) (2 titles)

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. The adoption of rugby sevens and golf was recommended to the full International Olympic Committee council by its executive board in August 2009. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 for rugby sevens to become a medal event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

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. The IRB intended that the exposure to rugby from hosting the World Cup Sevens would accelerate the growth of rugby in Russia. It featured 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

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. 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. On 13 May 2015, it was announced that the United States would host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Attendance

Men's tournament

Ed.	Year	Host	First place game			Losing semifinalists		Num. teams
			01 Champion	Score	02 Runner-up
1	1993	Edinburgh	England	21–17	Australia	Fiji	Ireland	24
2	1997	Hong Kong	Fiji	24–21	South Africa	New Zealand	Samoa	24
3	2001	Mar del Plata	New Zealand	31–12	Australia	Fiji	Argentina	24
4	2005	Hong Kong	Fiji	29–19	New Zealand	Australia	England	24
5	2009	Dubai	Wales	19–12	Argentina	Samoa	Kenya	24
6	2013	Moscow	New Zealand	33–0	England	Fiji	Kenya	24
7	2018	San Francisco	New Zealand	33–12	England	South Africa	Fiji	24
8	2022	Cape Town	Fiji	29–12	New Zealand	Ireland	Australia	24

Notable players

Player of the Tournament

Year	Champion	Player
1993	England	Lawrence Dallaglio
1997	Fiji	Waisale Serevi
2001	New Zealand	Jonah Lomu
2005	Fiji	Waisale Serevi
2009	Wales	Tal Selley
2013	New Zealand	Tim Mikkelson
2018	New Zealand	Scott Curry
2022	Fiji	Kaminieli Rasaku

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. 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.

Most career tries Rank Player Tries 1 Marika Vunibaka 23 2 Waisale Serevi 19 3 Brian Lima 17 4 Andrew Turnbull 16 5 Roger Randle 14 Brendan Williams 14 7 Tevita Tuʻifua 14 8 Andy Harriman 12 António Aguilar 12 10 Joost van der Westhuizen 11

Most career points Rank Player Points 1 Waisale Serevi 297 2 Marika Vunibaka 115 3 Brian Lima 101 4 Amasio Valence 100 5 Ben Gollings 98 6 Glen Osborne 91 7 Andre Joubert 88 8 Andrew Aiolupo 85 Colin Gregor 85 10 Nick Beal 84

Most career matches Rank Player Matches 1 Waisale Serevi 31 2 Collins Injera 21 3 Marika Vunibaka 19 4 Brian Lima 18 5 Andrew Turnbull 17 6 Min-Suk Yoo 16 Pedro Leal 16 8 8 players tied with 15

Up to date as of 12 September 2022

Results by nation

Team	1993	1997	2001	2005	2009	2013	2018	2022	Years
Arabian Gulf					21st				1
Argentina	9th	13th	3rd	5th	2nd	11th	5th	5th	8
Australia	2nd	5th	2nd	3rd	10th	5th	10th	4th	8
Canada	15th	21st	5th	18th	13th	9th	12th	13th	8
Chile			17th				17th	14th	3
Cook Islands		11th	13th						2
Chinese Taipei	21st		21st	21st					3
England	1st	5th	5th	3rd	5th	2nd	2nd	9th	8
Fiji	3rd	1st	3rd	1st	5th	3rd	4th	1st	8
France	15th	5th	21st	5th	13th	5th	8th	6th	8
Georgia			10th	11th	21st	19th			4
Germany								18th	1
Ireland	3rd	19th	19th	13th	18th		9th	3rd	7
Italy	17th			17th	21st				3
Hong Kong	17th	10th	21st	21st	19th	21st	18th	19th	8
Jamaica							24th	24th	2
Japan	13th	17th	13th	13th	21st	18th	15th		7
Kenya			19th	19th	3rd	4th	16th	12th	6
South Korea	11th	5th	13th	21st				21st	5
Latvia	21st								1
Morocco		19th							1
Namibia	21st	21st							2
Netherlands	21st								1
New Zealand	7th	3rd	1st	2nd	5th	1st	1st	2nd	8
Papua New Guinea							21st		1
Philippines						21st			1
Portugal		21st	18th	10th	11th	13th		22nd	6
Romania	17th	13th							2
Russia			9th	11th		17th	14th		4
South Africa	5th	2nd	5th	5th	5th	5th	3rd	7th	8
Samoa	5th	3rd	5th	9th	3rd	10th	13th	8th	8
Scotland	14th	11th		5th	9th	11th	7th	16th	7
Spain	10th	13th	11th			21st			4
Tonga	7th	9th		19th	11th	13th	22nd	20th	7
Tunisia				13th	13th	21st			3
Uganda							19th	17th	2
Uruguay				21st	19th	19th	20th	10th	5
United States	17th	18th	13th	13th	13th	13th	6th	11th	8
Wales	11th	13th	11th		1st	5th	11th	15th	7
Zimbabwe		21st	21st		17th	13th	23rd	23rd	6

Women's tournament

Ed.	Year	Host	First place game			Losing semifinalists		Num. teams
			01 Champion	Score	02 Runner-up
1	2009	United Arab Emirates	Australia	15–10	New Zealand	United States	South Africa	16
2	2013	Moscow	New Zealand	29–12	Canada	United States	Spain	16
3	2018	San Francisco	New Zealand	29–0	France	Australia	United States	16
4	2022	Cape Town	Australia	24–22	New Zealand	France	United States	16

Results by nation

Team	2009	2013	2018	2022	Years
Australia	1st	5th	3rd	1st	4
Brazil	10th	13th	13th	11th	4
Canada	6th	2nd	7th	6th	4
China	9th	11th	12th	13th	4
Colombia				16th	1
England	5th	6th	9th	8th	4
Fiji		9th	11th	5th	3
France	7th	11th	2nd	3rd	4
Ireland		7th	6th	7th	3
Italy	11th				1
Japan	13th	13th	10th	9th	4
Madagascar				15th	1
Mexico			16th		1
Netherlands	13th	10th			2
New Zealand	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	4
Papua New Guinea			15th		1
Poland				10th	1
Russia	11th	7th	8th		3
South Africa	4th	13th	14th	14th	4
Spain	7th	4th	5th	12th	4
Thailand	13th				1
Tunisia		13th			1
United States	3rd	3rd	4th	4th	4
Uganda	13th				1

See also

In Spanish: Copa del Mundo de Rugby 7 para niños

• World Rugby Sevens Series
• World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
• Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics
• Hong Kong Sevens
• Rugby World Cup
• Women's Rugby World Cup