2007-08 IRB Sevens World Series
The 2007–08 IRB Sevens World Series was the ninth of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. The defending series champions, New Zealand, completely dominated this season's competition, winning the first five events, setting new records for consecutive tournament wins and consecutive match wins,[1] and clinching the 2007–08 series with one tournament remaining after winning the Plate Final of the London leg.[2] They ended with six wins out of the eight events.
Sevens is a stripped-down version of rugby union, with seven players on each side rather than fifteen. Games are much shorter, seven or ten minutes each half, and tend to be very fast-paced. Sevens is traditionally played in a two-day tournament format; however, the most famous event, the Hong Kong Sevens, is played over three days.
The series' tournaments, which were identical to those in 2006–2007, span the globe:
2007-08 Itinerary[3] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Leg | Venue | Date | Winner |
Dubai | Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground | November 30–December 1, 2007 | 22x20px New Zealand |
South Africa | Outeniqua Park, George | December 7–8 2007 | 22x20px New Zealand |
New Zealand | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | February 1–2 2008 | 22x20px New Zealand |
United States | PETCO Park, San Diego, California | February 9–10 2008 | 22x20px New Zealand |
Hong Kong | Hong Kong Stadium | March 28–30 2008 | 22x20px New Zealand |
Australia | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | April 5–6 2008 | 22x20px South Africa |
London | Twickenham | May 24–25 2008 | 22x20px Samoa |
Scotland | Murrayfield, Edinburgh | May 31–June 1, 2008 | 22x20px New Zealand |
Tournament structure[edit | edit source]
In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate. Because of its place as the sports most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament as 24 teams. In each tournament, the teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. Points are awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied teams, followed by difference in points scored during the tournament.[4]
Four trophies are awarded in each tournament, except for Hong Kong. In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. In Hong Kong, the Shield is not awarded. Each trophy is awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[5]
In a 16 team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advance to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl is contested by the third-place finishers in each pool, while the Shield is contested by the last-place teams from each pool.[4] In Hong Kong, the six pool winners, plus the two highest-finishing second-place teams, advance to the Cup. The Plate participants are the eight highest-ranked teams remaining, while the lowest eight drop to the Bowl.[6]
Points schedule[edit | edit source]
The season championship is determined by points earned in each tournament. For most events, points are awarded on the following schedule:[5]
- Cup winner (1st place): 20 points
- Cup runner-up (2nd place): 16 points
- Losing Cup semifinalists (3rd & 4th place): 12 points
- Plate winner (5th place): 8 points
- Plate runner-up (6th place): 6 points
- Losing Plate semifinalists (7th & 8th place): 4 points
- Bowl winner (9th place): 2 points
Points are awarded on a different schedule for the Hong Kong Sevens:[5]
- Cup winner (1st place): 30 points
- Cup runner-up (2nd place): 24 points
- Losing Cup semifinalists (3rd & 4th place): 18 points
- Losing Cup quarterfinalists (5th, 6th, 7th & 8th place): 8 points
- Plate winner (9th place): 4 points
- Plate runner-up (10th place): 3 points
- Losing Plate semifinalists (11th & 12th place): 2 points
- Bowl winner (17th place): 1 point
Statistics[edit | edit source]
Table[edit | edit source]
Final 2007-08 Standings[7] | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos. | Country | Dubai | South Africa (George) |
New Zealand (Wellington) |
USA (San Diego) |
Hong Kong | Australia (Adelaide) |
England (London) |
Scotland (Edinburgh) |
Overall | |
1 | 22x20px New Zealand | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 16 | 8 | 20 | 154 | |
2 | 22x20px South Africa | 12 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 106 | |
3 | 22x20px Samoa | 6 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 20 | 12 | 100 | |
4 | 22x20px Fiji | 16 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 98 | |
5 | 22x20px England | 12 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 54 | |
6 | 22x20px Argentina | 8 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 43 | |
7 | 22x20px Kenya | 4 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 38 | |
8= | 22x20px Australia | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 30 | |
8= | 22x20px Wales | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | |
10 | 22x20px Scotland | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 26 | |
11 | 22x20px Tonga | - | - | 12 | - | 2 | 8 | - | - | 22 | |
12 | 22x20px France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | |
13 | 22x20px United States | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 6 | |
14= | 22x20px Cook Islands | - | - | 0 | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 | |
14= | 22x20px Portugal | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
16 | 22x20px Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
17 | 22x20px Russia | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
18= | 22x20px Moldova | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Spain | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Japan | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Tunisia | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Hong Kong | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px China | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Chinese Taipei | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px South Korea | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Sri Lanka | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px West Indies | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Chile | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Mexico | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Papua New Guinea | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 22x20px Uganda | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
18= | 23x15px Arabian Gulf | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
Individual points[edit | edit source]
Individual points [8] Updated:2008-04-04 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Pos. | Player | Country | Points |
1 | Tomasi Cama | 22x20px New Zealand | 188 |
2 | Fabian Juries | 22x20px South Africa | 150 |
3 | Neumi Nanuku | 22x20px Fiji | 146 |
4 | Renfred Dazel | 22x20px South Africa | 137 |
5 | Lote Raikabula | 22x20px New Zealand | 136 |
6 | Steven Yates | 22x20px New Zealand | 130 |
7= | Mikaele Pesamino | 22x20px Samoa | 127 |
7= | Emosi Vucago | 22x20px Fiji | 127 |
9 | Philip Mack | 22x20px Canada | 126 |
10 | Ben Gollings | 22x20px England | 124 |
Individual tries[edit | edit source]
Individual tries [9] Updated:2012-02-01 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Pos. | Player | Country | Tries |
1 | Fabian Juries | 22x20px South Africa | 41 |
2 | Alafoti Fa'osiliva | 22x20px Samoa | 35 |
3 | Mikaele Pesamino | 22x20px Samoa | 31 |
4 | Tomasi Cama | 22x20px New Zealand | 29 |
5= | Steven Yates | 22x20px New Zealand | 27 |
5= | Victor Vito | 22x20px New Zealand | 27 |
5= | Santiago Gomez Cora | 22x20px Argentina | 27 |
8= | Chris Wyles | 22x20px United States | 26 |
8= | DJ Forbes | 22x20px New Zealand | 26 |
10 | Emosi Vucago | 22x20px Fiji | 25 |
Tournaments[edit | edit source]
Dubai[edit | edit source]
- Main article: 2007 Dubai Sevens