The 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series was the 21st annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000.
| 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens | |
|---|---|
| Series XXI | |
| Hosts | |
| Date | 5 December 2019 – 8 March 2020 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Zealand |
| Runners-up |  South Africa |
| Third |  Fiji |
| Series details | |
| Top try scorer | Jordan Conroy (30) |
| Top point scorer | Napolioni Bolaca (159) |
← 2018–19 2021 → | |
In March 2020, World Rugby postponed all remaining tournaments in the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The events in London and Paris were postponed provisionally until September,[1] preceding the Singapore and Hong Kong events previously postponed until October.[2] On 30 June, the remaining four rounds of the series was cancelled which meant that New Zealand was awarded the title by 11 points over second-placed South Africa.[3]
Format edit
Sixteen nations competed at each event, drawn into four pools of four teams each.[4][5] Following the pool matches at each tournament, the top eight teams (two teams from each pool) played off for a Cup, with gold, silver and bronze medals also awarded to the first three teams.[6] The bottom eight teams after the pool matches played off for the lower-ranked placings from ninth to sixteenth at each tournament. The winner of the series was determined by the overall points standings gained across all events in the season.[7]
Challenger Series and the COVID-19 pandemic edit
World Rugby announced in December 2019 that there would be a feeder competition to the Sevens Series consisting of sixteen teams that would play two sevens events in South America, determining the final eight teams to play in a playoff-style event at the Hong Kong Sevens. The final winner would be promoted to the World Rugby Sevens Series and replace the invitational side in the Sevens Series.[8][9]
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby postponed the Sevens Series and Challenger Series seasons[10] to be completed at a later date in the year before subsequently cancelling the season entirely.[11][12] Because of both competitions seasons being cancelled, the final playoff in Hong Kong to decide the team who would be promoted to the Sevens Series would not be decided and the team with the highest points tally would be the promoted team. Japan, an invited team to five of the six Sevens Series events was promoted having accumulated thirty-nine points in total, three points clear at the top of the table.[13]
Core teams edit
The fifteen "core teams" qualified to participate in all series events for 2019–20 were:
Ireland joined as a core team for the first time after winning the 2019–20 World Series qualifier held in Hong Kong. They replaced Japan who were relegated after finishing as the lowest-placed core team in 2018–19. However, Japan will play in several tournaments as the wild card team in preparation to host the Olympic tournament.
Tour venues edit
The official schedule for the 2019–20 World Rugby Sevens Series was:[14]
| Leg | Stadium | City | Dates | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | The Sevens | Dubai | 5–7 December 2019 | South Africa |
| South Africa | Cape Town Stadium | Cape Town | 13–15 December 2019 | New Zealand |
| New Zealand | FMG Stadium Waikato | Hamilton | 25–26 January 2020 | New Zealand |
| Australia | Bankwest Stadium | Sydney | 1–2 February 2020 | Fiji |
| United States | Dignity Health Sports Park | Los Angeles | 29 February – 1 March 2020 | South Africa |
| Canada | BC Place | Vancouver | 7–8 March 2020 | New Zealand |
Events in Singapore and Hong Kong were originally scheduled to be played in April 2020 but were postponed due to health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled to October 2020.[2] In June 2020, World Rugby cancelled all four remaining rounds of the tournament (Singapore, Hong Kong, England and France) due to the pandemic.[3]
Standings edit
Official standings for the 2019–20 series:
| Pos. | Event Team |  Dubai | Cape Town | Hamilton |  Sydney |  Los Angeles |  Vancouver | Points total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 19 | 22 | 22 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 115 |
| 2 | South Africa | 22 | 19 | 7 | 19 | 22 | 15 | 104 |
| 3 | Fiji | 8 | 15 | 8 | 22 | 19 | 11 | 83 |
| 4 | Australia | 13 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 81 |
| 5 |  England | 17 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 77 |
| 6 |  France | 12 | 17 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 74 |
| 7 | United States | 10 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 72 |
| 8 | Canada | 7 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 57 |
| 9 |  Argentina | 11 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 56 |
| 10 |  Ireland | 5 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 49 |
| 11 |  Scotland | 3 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 37 |
| 12 |  Kenya | 4 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 35 |
| 13 |  Samoa | 15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 33 |
| 14 |  Spain | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 33 |
| 15 |  Wales[note 1] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 16 |  Japan[note 2] | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | 10 |
| 17 |  South Korea | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
Source: World Rugby
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| No colour | Core team in 2019–20 and re-qualified as a core team for the 2020–21 World Rugby Sevens Series |
| Yellow | Invited team |
Note:
- ^ World Rugby announced that there would be no relegation this season. Therefore, Wales, who would have been relegated as the lowest placed core team, re-qualified as a core team for the next World Rugby Sevens Series.[3]
- ^ Although not a core team, Japan was invited to five of the six series events that were played. Japan was subsequently promoted from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series as they finished with the most points in the two-event series.[15]
Players edit
Scoring leaders edit
| Rank | Player | Tries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Conroy | 30 |
| 2 | Carlin Isles | 22 |
| 3 | Aminiasi Tuimaba | 20 |
| 4 | Perry Baker | 19 |
| 5 | Terry Kennedy | 17 |
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napolioni Bolaca | 159 |
| 2 | Jordan Conroy | 150 |
| 3 | Nathan Hirayama | 141 |
| 4 | Lewis Holland | 125 |
| 5 | Waisea Nacuqu | 124 |
Updated: 11 March 2020
See also edit
References edit
Sources edit
- "Terms of participation: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series" (PDF). World Rugby. 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.