2004-05 World Sevens Series

Rugby World Cup

datefrom = 2004-12-02
dateto = 2005-06-11
jointhost1 = Dubai
jointhost2 = South Africa
nations = 13
champion = New Zealand
runnerup = Fiji
matches =
attendance =
apm =
top scorer =
most tries =
preceded by = 2003-04 IRB Sevens World Series
succeeded by = 2005-06 IRB Sevens World Series

The 2004-05 IRB Sevens World Series, now ongoing, is the sixth 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 are New Zealand, who won the 2003-04 series.

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.

The tournaments span the globe:

The season

In an event, 16 teams are entered. 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. In descending order of prestige, they are the Cup, whose winner is the overall tournament champion, Plate, Bowl and Shield. Each trophy is awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.

In an 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.

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 (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

Current table

The events

Dubai

Results

*Cup: ru7|FJI 21-26 ru7|ENG
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|ZAF, ru7|NZL
*Plate: ru7|SAM 21-19 ru7|ARG
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|AUS, ru7|SCO
*Bowl: ru7|FRA 5-10 ru7|POR

outh Africa

Results

*Cup: ru7|NZL 33-19 ru7|FIJ
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|ENG, ru7|ARG
*Plate: ru7|ZAF 12-7 ru7|SAM
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|TUN, ru7|KEN
*Bowl: ru7|CAN 12-38 ru7|AUS

New Zealand

Results

*Cup: ru7|ARG 7-31 ru7|NZL
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|ZAF, ru7|FJI
*Plate: ru7|SCO 0-32 ru7|AUS
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|SAM, ru7|ENG
*Bowl: ru7|TON 12-17 ru7|KEN

USA

Results

*Cup: ru7|ARG 5-34 ru7|NZL
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|AUS, ru7|ENG
*Plate: ru7|SAM 21-24 ru7|FJI
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|FRA, ru7|ZAF
*Bowl: ru7|KEN 0-15 ru7|CAN

ingapore

Results

*Cup: ru7|NZL Beat ru7|ENG
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|FJI, ru7|ZAF
*Plate: ru7|SAM Beat ru7|AUS
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|SCO, ru7|ARG
*Bowl: ru7|FRA

London

Results

*Cup: ru7|ZAF 21-12 ru7|ENG
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|ARG, ru7|NZL
*Plate: ru7|AUS 12-29 ru7|FJI
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|SCO, ru7|FRA
*Bowl: ru7|TUN 0-27 ru7|SAM

France

Results

*Cup: ru7|FRA 28-19 ru7|FJI
*Losing Cup semifinalists: ru7|SAM, ru7|NZL
*Plate: ru7|ZAF 26-19 ru7|ENG
*Losing Plate semifinalists: ru7|AUS, ru7|SCO
*Bowl: ru7|ARG 26-10 ru7|GEO

References

External links

* [http://www.irbsevens.com Official tournament site]