The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series

IRB Sevens World Series

The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...

, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC

HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...

 Sevens World Series, will be the 13th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 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

Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens—a variant of rugby union....

, is played over three days, largely because it involves 24 teams instead of the normal 16. In addition, the USA Sevens

USA Sevens

The USA Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in the United States. A part of the IRB Sevens World Series, it currently takes place on Saturday and Sunday during the second weekend of February...

 will be 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

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, expanding the circuit to nine legs. Two other significant scheduling changes were made. The Australian leg, which had previously followed the Hong Kong Sevens, is now the first event in the series. Also, the last two legs of the series, held in Edinburgh and London, switched places on the schedule, making the London leg the last in the series.

On 13 April 2011, the Australian

Australian Rugby Union

The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...

 and South African

South African Rugby Union

The South African Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to the International Rugby Board...

 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

Adelaide Sevens

The Adelaide Sevens is a rugby union sevens tournament, part of the IRB Sevens World Series. The competition is currently held at the Adelaide Oval, South Australia. The inaugural competition, the 2007 Adelaide Sevens, took place on 7 and 8 April and replaced the Singapore Sevens...

 to the Gold Coast

Gold Coast, Queensland

Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...

. Initially, the event was called the "International Rugby Sevens Gold Coast", but was later rebranded as simply the "Gold Coast Sevens". The SARU announced that Port Elizabeth would become the new host of the South Africa leg, replacing George

George, Western Cape

George is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...

.
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Australia 2011 Gold Coast Sevens The 2011 Gold Coast Sevens was the first edition of the tournament which was known as the Adelaide Sevens the last years. It was held at Robina, Australia, the host stadium was the Robina Stadium....	Skilled Park, Gold Coast Gold Coast, Queensland Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...	25–26 November 2011
Dubai 2011 Dubai Sevens The 2011 Dubai Sevens will be the 11th edition of the tournament, part of the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens. It will be held at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the host stadium will be the The Sevens stadium....	The Sevens The Sevens (stadium) The Sevens, also written as "7he Sevens", is a purpose-built rugby sevens stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.It was the venue for the first HSBC A5N Youth Rugby Festival in February 2009.-External links:* * *... , Dubai Dubai Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...	2–3 December 2011
South Africa 2011 South Africa Sevens The 2011 South Africa Sevens will be the 13th edition of the tournament. After nine seasons at George in the Western Cape, the competition moves to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.-Format:...	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a 48,000-seater stadium in Port Elizabeth.The five-tier, R2 billion Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadiums built in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It regularly hosts... , Port Elizabeth	9–10 December 2011
New Zealand	Westpac Stadium Westpac Stadium Westpac Stadium, is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Due to its shape and silver coloured external walls, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin to the locals and other New Zealanders... , Wellington Wellington Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...	3–4 February 2012
United States	Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium is a football stadium located in Whitney, Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas metropolitan area; the mailing address of the stadium is "Las Vegas". The stadium is named after Sam Boyd, a major figure in the hotel/casino industry in Las Vegas. The stadium consists... , Las Vegas Las Vegas metropolitan area The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...	10–12 February 2012
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium it reincarnated as Hong Kong Stadium in 1994... , Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...	23–25 March 2012
Japan	Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Chichibunomiya rugby stadium in the Aoyama district of central Tokyo is the spiritual home of Japanese rugby union and the headquarters of the Japan Rugby Football Union.-Facilities:... , Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...	31 March–1 April 2012
Scotland	Murrayfield Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent "big screen" in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one... , Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...	5–6 May 2012
England	Twickenham Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000... , London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...	12–13 May 2012

Women's sevens

The 2011 Dubai Sevens will see the IRB organise its first officially sanctioned women's international sevens tournament apart from the Rugby World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup Sevens

The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international Rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board , and is contested by the men's national sevens teams every four years. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, the...

. It will involve eight teams—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, South Africa, Spain, and the USA—and the semifinals and final will be held on the main pitch at The Sevens. This is part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13.

Core teams

Before each season, the IRB announces the 12 "core teams" that receive guaranteed berths in each event of that season's series. The core teams for 2011–12 are:

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

Points schedule

The season championship will be 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:

16-team events (all except for Hong Kong)

• Cup winner (1st place): 22 points
• Cup runner-up (2nd place): 19 points
• Cup third-place play-off winner (3rd place): 17 points
• Cup third-place play-off loser (4th place): 15 points
• Plate winner (5th place): 13 points
• Plate runner-up (6th place): 12 points
• Losing Plate semi-finalists (joint 7th place): 10 points
• Bowl winner (9th place): 8 points
• Bowl runner-up (10th place): 7 points
• Losing Bowl semi-finalists (joint 11th place): 5 points
• Shield winner (13th place): 3 points
• Shield runner-up (14th place): 2 points
• Losing Shield semi-finalists (joint 15th place): 1 point

24-team event (Hong Kong)

• To be announced

Tournament structure

In all tournaments except Hong Kong, 16 teams participate. Due to its place as the sport's most prestigious annual event, the Hong Kong tournament has 24 teams. In each 16-team 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. In case of a tie on competition points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

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.

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

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- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the losers in the Bowl quarterfinals dropping into the bracket for the Shield.

The Hong Kong Sevens uses a similar structure, though adjusted for the larger number of teams involved. Its 24 teams are 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 advance to the Cup competition.

• The Plate competition is contested by the losing quarterfinalists from the Cup, as in all other events in the series.
• The Bowl is contested by the four remaining second-place finishers and the top four third-place finishers.
• The Shield is contested by the remaining eight entrants.

Table

2011–12 Standings
Pos.	Country	Australia (Gold Coast)	Dubai	South Africa (Port Elizabeth)	New Zealand (Wellington)	USA (Las Vegas)	Hong Kong	Japan (Tokyo)	Scotland (Edinburgh)	England (London)	Overall
1		22									22
2		19									19
3		17									17
4		15									15
5		13									13
6		12									12
7		10									10
7		10									10
9		8									8
10		7									7
11		5									5
11		5									5
13		3									3
14		2									2
15		1									1
15		1									1

Individual points

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Pos.	Player	Points
1		48
2		35
2		35
2		35
5		30
5		30
7		28
8		27
9		25
9		25
9		25
9		25
9		25

Individual tries

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Pos.	Player	Tries
1		7
1		7
3		6
3		6
5		5
5		5
5		5
5		5
9	nine players	4

Gold Coast

Event	Winners	Score	Finalists	Semi Finalists
Cup		26 – 12
Plate		26 – 15
Bowl		17 – 14
Shield		31 – 19

External links

• IRB Sevens