2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series

2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series
Host nations  Australia
 United Arab Emirates
 South Africa
 New Zealand
 United States
 Hong Kong
 Japan
 Scotland
 England
Date 25 November 2011
Nations 30
Final positions
Champions  New Zealand
Runners-up  Fiji
Third  England
Series details
Top point scorer New Zealand Tomasi Cama
(390 points)
Top try scorer England Mathew Turner
(38 tries)

The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.

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, was played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the normal 16. In addition, the USA Sevens were a three-day affair this season despite being a standard 16-team event.

Itinerary

The IRB announced the schedule for the 2011–12 series on 18 August 2011. The most important development was the addition of a leg in Japan, expanding the circuit to nine legs. Two other significant scheduling changes were made. The Australian leg, which had previously followed the Hong Kong Sevens, was now the first event in the series. Also, the last two legs of the series, originally slated for Edinburgh and London, switched places on the schedule, making the London leg the last in the series.[1]

On 13 April 2011, the Australian and South African unions (respectively ARU and SARU) both announced that their countries' legs of the series would move to new sites effective with this season. The ARU announced that its leg would move from Adelaide to the Gold Coast. Initially, the event was called the "International Rugby Sevens Gold Coast", but was later rebranded as simply the "Gold Coast Sevens".[2][3] The SARU announced that Port Elizabeth would become the new host of the South Africa leg, replacing George.[4]

On 9 December 2011, the IRB and the Scottish Rugby Union announced that the Scotland Sevens, also previously known as the Edinburgh Sevens, would move to Glasgow effective with the 2012 edition.[5]

2011–12 Itinerary[1]
Leg Venue Date Winner
Australia Skilled Park, Gold Coast 25–26 November 2011  Fiji
Dubai The Sevens, Dubai 2–3 December 2011  England
South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth 9–10 December 2011  New Zealand
New Zealand Westpac Stadium, Wellington 3–4 February 2012  New Zealand
United States Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas 10–12 February 2012  Samoa
Hong Kong Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 23–25 March 2012  Fiji
Japan Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo 31 March–1 April 2012  Australia
Scotland Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow 5–6 May 2012  New Zealand
England Twickenham, London 12–13 May 2012  Fiji

Women's sevens

The 2011 Dubai Sevens saw the IRB organise its first officially sanctioned women's international sevens tournament apart from the Rugby World Cup Sevens. It involved eight teams—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, South Africa, Spain, and the USA—and the semifinals and final were held on the main pitch at The Sevens. This was part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13.[6]

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that received guaranteed berths in each event of that season's series. The core teams for 2011–12 were:[7]

The core teams have been unchanged since the 2008–09 series.

Points schedule

The season championship was determined by points earned in each tournament. A new points system, in which each participating team now receives Series points, was introduced shortly before the 2011–12 season kicked off:[8]

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)
24-team event (Hong Kong)

Tournament structure

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participated. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament had 24 teams. In each 16-team tournament, the teams were divided into pools of four teams, who played a round-robin within the pool. Points were awarded in each pool on a different schedule from most rugby tournaments—3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss. In case of a tie on competition points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[9]

  1. Head-to-head result
  2. Difference in points scored in all pool matches
  3. Difference in tries scored in all pool matches
  4. Total points scored in all pool matches
  5. Total tries scored in all pool matches
  6. Coin toss

A tie between more than two teams is resolved in the same manner, but without considering head-to-head results.[9]

Four trophies were awarded in each tournament. In descending order of prestige, they were the Cup (overall tournament champion), Plate, Bowl and Shield. Each trophy was awarded at the end of a knockout tournament.[10]

In a 16-team tournament, the top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers dropped into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl was contested by the third- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the losers in the Bowl quarterfinals dropping into the bracket for the Shield.[9]

The Hong Kong Sevens used a similar structure, though adjusted for the larger number of teams involved. Its 24 teams were divided into six pools of four teams each, with the competition points system and tiebreakers identical to those for a 16-team event. The six pool winners and the two top second-place finishers advanced to the Cup competition.[11]

Statistics

Table

2011–12 Standings[12]
Pos. Country Australia (Gold Coast) Dubai South Africa
(Port Elizabeth)		 New Zealand
(Wellington)		 USA
(Las Vegas)		 Hong Kong Japan
(Tokyo)		 Scotland
(Glasgow)		 England
(London) 		Overall
1  New Zealand 19 10 22 22 19 19 17 22 17 167
2  Fiji 22 17 12 19 17 22 13 17 22 161
3  England 10 22 15 17 10 15 15 19 12 135
4  Samoa 12 3 17 15 22 13 19 13 19 133
5  South Africa 17 12 19 13 15 17 12 10 10 125
6  Australia 15 13 10 7 7 10 22 15 13 112
7  Argentina 8 15 5 5 12 12 10 10 15 92
8  Wales 13 10 13 5 10 10 10 12 8 91
9  France 10 19 10 10 3 5 8 5 3 73
10  Scotland 7 8 8 3 2 5 3 5 7 48
11  United States 5 7 5 1 5 7 7 2 2 41
12  Kenya 1 2 2 8 13 8 2 3 1 40
13  Canada 0 5 7 10 8 3 0 0 0 33
14  Spain 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 7 10 19
15  Portugal 0 5 1 0 0 1 5 1 5 18
16  Tonga 5 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 17
17  Japan 2 0 0 1 5 1 1 0 0 10
17  Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 10
17  Zimbabwe 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 10
20  Hong Kong 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 5
21  Papua New Guinea 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
22  Cook Islands 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
23  Brazil 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
23  Morocco 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23  Niue 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23  United Arab Emirates 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23  Uruguay 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
28  China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28  Guyana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28  Philippines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Individual points

Individual points[13]
Pos. Player Points
1  Junior Tomasi Cama (NZL) 390
2  Metuisela Talebula (FIJ) 271
3  Colin Gregor (SCO) 242
4  Mathew Turner (ENG) 194
5  Dan Norton (ENG) 191
6  Branco du Preez (RSA) 175
7  Tom Iosefo (SAM) 167
8  Paul Albaladejo (FRA) 159
9  Tom Mitchell (ENG) 154
10  Frank Halai (NZL) 150

Individual tries

Individual tries[14]
Pos. Player Tries
1  Mathew Turner (ENG) 38
2  Dan Norton (ENG) 37
3  Junior Tomasi Cama (NZL) 34
4  Tom Iosefo (SAM) 33
5  Frank Halai (NZL) 30
6  James Fleming (SCO) 29
7  Joeli Lutumailagi (FIJ) 28
8  Paul Perez (SAM) 27
9  Richard Smith (WAL) 26
10  Waisea Nayacalevu (FIJ) 25
10  Metuisela Talebula (FIJ) 25

Tournaments

Gold Coast

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  Fiji 26 – 12  New Zealand  Australia
 South Africa
Plate  Wales 26 – 15  Samoa  England
 France
Bowl  Argentina 17 – 14  Scotland  Tonga
 United States
Shield  Papua New Guinea 31 – 19  Japan  Kenya
 Niue

Dubai

Main article: 2011 Dubai Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  England 29 – 12  France  Argentina
 Fiji
Plate  Australia 17 – 14  South Africa  New Zealand
 Wales
Bowl  Scotland 26 – 0  United States  Canada
 Portugal
Shield  Samoa 31 – 17  Kenya  United Arab Emirates
 Zimbabwe

South Africa

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  New Zealand 31 – 26  South Africa  England
 Samoa
Plate  Wales 48 – 0  Fiji  Australia
 France
Bowl  Scotland 22 – 19  Canada  Argentina
 United States
Shield  Zimbabwe 19 – 12  Kenya  Morocco
 Portugal

Wellington

Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  New Zealand 24 – 7  Fiji  England
 Samoa
Plate  South Africa 24 – 0  Tonga  Canada
 France
Bowl  Kenya 12 – 7  Australia  Argentina
 Wales
Shield  Scotland 19 – 17  Cook Islands  Japan
 United States

USA

Main article: 2012 USA Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  Samoa 26 – 19  New Zealand  Fiji
 South Africa
Plate  Kenya 21 – 7  Argentina  England
 Wales
Bowl  Canada 19 – 17  Australia  Japan
 United States
Shield  France 22 – 7  Scotland  Brazil
 Uruguay

Hong Kong

Main article: 2012 Hong Kong Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  Fiji 35 – 28  New Zealand  England
 South Africa
Plate  Samoa 12 – 10  Argentina  Australia
 Wales
Bowl  Kenya 14 – 12  United States  France
 Scotland
Shield  Canada 22 – 5  Spain  Japan
 Portugal

Japan

Main article: 2012 Japan Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  Australia 28 – 26  Samoa  England
 New Zealand
Plate  Fiji 14 – 10  South Africa  Argentina
 Wales
Bowl  France 17 – 12  United States  Hong Kong
 Portugal
Shield  Scotland 26 – 12  Kenya  Japan
 Russia

Scotland

Main article: 2012 Scotland Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  New Zealand 29 – 14  England  Australia
 Fiji
Plate  Samoa 31 – 12  Wales  Argentina
 South Africa
Bowl  Russia 33 – 19  Spain  France
 Scotland
Shield  Kenya 22 – 14  United States  Portugal
 Zimbabwe

London

Main article: 2012 London Sevens
Event Winners Score Finalists Semi-finalists
Cup  Fiji 38 – 15  Samoa  Argentina
 New Zealand
Plate  Australia 14 – 12  England  South Africa
 Spain
Bowl  Wales 27 – 5  Scotland  Portugal
 Zimbabwe
Shield  France 19 – 12  United States  Kenya
 Russia

References

  1. 1 2 "Japan joins expanded HSBC Sevens World Series" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Gold Coast to Become New Home for Australian Sevens" (Press release). Australian Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Gold Coast Sevens". Australian Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Port Elizabeth named as new host of SA Sevens event" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "World Series moves to Glasgow" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "First IRB Women's Sevens event announced" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Teams announced for Gold Coast kickoff" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 8 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "New Points System for HSBC Sevens World Series". New Points System for HSBC Sevens World Series (Press release). SARU. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 "Rules: 16-Team Tournament". HSBC Sevens World Series. International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Rules". HSBC Sevens World Series (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "Rules: 24-Team Tournament". International Rugby Board. 2011–2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "HSBC Sevens World Series Standings". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  13. ↑ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Points". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  14. ↑ "IRB Sevens World Series 2010/11 Statistics: Season Player Tries". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.

External links


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