- 2006-07 IRB Sevens World Series
Rugby World Cup
datefrom = 2006-12-01
dateto = 2007-06-03
jointhost1 = Dubai
jointhost2 = South Africa
nations = 17
champion = New Zealand
runnerup = Fiji
matches =
attendance =
apm =
top scorer =
most tries =
preceded by =2004-05 IRB Sevens World Series
succeeded by =2007-08 IRB Sevens World Series The 2006-07
IRB Sevens World Series was the eighth of an annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by theInternational Rugby Board since 1999-2000.New Zealand won the 2006-07 series by winning the final tournament in Edinburgh. In that event, the then-defending series champions Fiji would have clinched the season crown by defeating Wales in the Cup quarterfinals. However, a Wales upset win opened the door for New Zealand to take the season crown by winning the Cup in Edinburgh, which they proceeded to do.
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, open affairs. 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 tournaments span the globe:
The Australia and Scotland events are new for 2006-07. The Australia event effectively replaces Singapore, and the Scotland event effectively replaces the
Paris Sevens .The season
In a normal event, 16 teams are entered; in Hong Kong, 24 teams enter. 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.
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.
In a normal event, 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.
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.
Points schedule
The season championship is determined by points earned in each tournament. For most events, points are awarded on the following schedule:
*Cup winner (1st place): 20 points
*Cup runner-up: 16 points
*Losing Cup semifinalists: 12 points
*Plate winner (5th place): 8 points
*Plate runner-up: 6 points
*Losing Plate semifinalists: 4 points
*Bowl winner (9th place): 2 pointsPoints are awarded on a different schedule for the Hong Kong Sevens:
*Cup winner: 30 points
*Cup runner-up: 24 points
*Losing Cup semifinalists: 18 points
*Losing Cup quarterfinalists: 8 points
*Plate winner (9th place): 4 points
*Plate runner-up: 3 points
*Losing Plate semifinalists: 2 points
*Bowl winner (17th place): 1 pointFinal table
The events
Dubai
Results
*Cup: ru7|RSA 26–32 ru7|NZL
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|FIJ, ru7|ENG
*Plate: ru7|FRA 7–26 ru7|SAM
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|CAN, ru7|AUS
*Bowl: ru7|ARG 26–7 ru7|ZIM
*Shield: ru7|WAL 33–0 ru7|Arabian Gulfouth Africa
Results
*Cup: ru7|NZL 24–19 ru7|RSA
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|FIJ, ru7|ENG
*Plate: ru7|WAL 26–7 ru7|TUN
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|FRA, ru7|SAM
*Bowl: ru7|AUS 41–7 ru7|KEN
*Shield: ru7|POR 14–12 ru7|ZIMNew Zealand
Results
*Cup: ru7|SAM 17 - 14 ru7|FIJ
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|NZL, ru7|RSA
*Plate: ru7|ENG 21 - 12 ru7|FRA
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|CAN, ru7|KEN
*Bowl: ru7|ARG 12 - 5 ru7|TON
*Shield: ru7|POR 26 - 24 ru7|SCOUSA
Results
*Cup: ru7|FIJ 38–24 ru7|SAM
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|FRA, ru7|NZL
*Plate: ru7|RSA 28–19 ru7|SCO
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|AUS, ru7|ENG
*Bowl: ru7|TON 22–17 ru7|ARG
*Shield: ru7|USA 26–5 ru7|PORHong Kong
Results
*Cup: ru7|SAM 27–22 ru7|FIJ
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|NZL, ru7|RSA
*Losing Cup quarterfinalists: ru7|AUS, ru7|ENG, ru7|SCO, ru7|TON
*Plate: ru7|WAL 26–19 ru7|ARG
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|POR, ru7|USA
*Bowl: ru7|RUS 21–7 ru7|FRAAustralia
Results
*Cup: ru7|FIJ 21–7 ru7|SAM
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|KEN, ru7|NZL
*Plate: ru7|AUS 31–0 ru7|RSA
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|ENG, ru7|SCO
*Bowl: ru7|WAL 26–14 ru7|TON
*Shield: ru7|CAN 43–17 ru7|JPNLondon
Results
*Cup: ru7|NZL 29–7 ru7|FIJ
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|SAM, ru7|WAL
*Plate: ru7|RSA 14–5 ru7|AUS
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|ARG, ru7|SCO
*Bowl: ru7|ENG 10–0 ru7|PORcotland
Results
*Cup: ru7|NZL 34-5 ru7|SAM
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|WAL, ru7|ARG
*Plate: ru7|FIJ 31-7 ru7|KEN
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|RSA, ru7|SCO
*Bowl: ru7|ENG 31-0 ru7|PORExternal links
* [http://www.irbsevens.com Official tournament site]
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